Henry Bloom Noble Library

The library was founded on November 29, 1886, when it was situated next to the Town Hall in Ridgeway Street. In 2003 it was relocated to Victoria Street and in 2016 to Duke Street. It is named in recognition of the late Henry Bloom Noble (1816-1903), one of the island’s most generous benefactors, who came to the Isle of Man from Cumberland and through his entrepreneurial skills was reputed to be the richest man in Douglas by his early forties. When he died, he left his fortune to his trustees to be used for philanthropic purposes in the Island, and some of the Island’s best-known institutions, including Noble’s Hospital, the Villa Marina, St Ninian’s Church, Noble’s Park and Ramsey Cottage Hospital were established as a result of his generosity.