18/06/2026
'My' Lady Erskine has been slandered!
I was speaking with someone at the exhibition and they stated she had done almost nothing for Conwy town whereas Albert Wood had done so much. Not knowing just what Albert Wood had done, I was unable at the time to challenge this slander as vehemently as I would have liked. And whilst possibly Mr Wood did do much, I feel I must defend Lady Erskine from such claims...or at least share again what she did do for the town.
Firstly, when she inherited significant portions of Conwy, she was only 7! Her mother had 'propped up' the Conwy corporation at times with loans during Jane Silence Williams minority (I'm not absolutely sure what these loans were for, but I'd hope for the greater good of the town and its people).
However, upon her marriage, her and her husband began to take their role as Landowner and landlord seriously.
One of the first things they did was to tackle the run down and derelict cottages and rebuild anew. They then leased portions of land for others to build new (granted this aspect was more about wealth accumulation than necessarily philanthropic). However, all was with the aim of improving the town (as noted in legal correspondence of 1820).
They gifted land and added to the subscription for the national board school to be built in 1838. They built a new coaching establishment on Telford's new road (again wealth accumulation, but encouraging commercial travellers to the town). They gave clean water to the town (although minutes complain they didn't go as far as providing clean drinking water). They gifted fuel in the harsh winter months to the poor, were involved with the town's clothing charity where they gave subscriptions and support every year. They set up a charity to pay for the poorest of the parish children to be able to attend school. They encouraged the arrival of the railway (although again this may have been less altruistic than I'd like to imagine). They gave land for a cemetery and when that filled up, they gifted more land. Lady Erskine freely gave the use of her castle to the first national Eisteddfod and gave annual fetes to the children of the town (with cakes and dancing).
And when she left the area to live permanently in Torquay, she also requested that her son give the castle to the townspeople to enjoy and gain some income from. And these are just items I have discovered so far.
And so whilst Mr Albert Wood was indeed a great benefactor, he was merely building on the original acts of Lady Erskine...or so I would claim!
