The bust of the late Mary Cornelia Vane-Tempest (1826–1906) was initially erected on a green plot near the Londonderry Cottage Hospital (formerly the Vane Infant School, NPRN 421018) and the Vane Alms-Houses (NPRN 21518) in November 1909. The statue was later moved to the grounds of the Plas, Machynlleth (see NPRNs 29818 (house) and 265185 (gardens)), her former home, which became a public park after being donated to the people of Machynlleth by her descendent, the Seventh Marquess of Londonderry, in 1948. The bust is a rare example of a statue of a named historical Welsh woman in a public space in Wales.

The statue was sculpted by Lady Feodora Gleichen (1861–1922) for a committee of townspeople at a cost of £450. It depicts the bronze bust of the Marchioness on a granite pedestal. The pedestal bears a coat of arms as well as the inscription:

MARY CORNELIA,

Fifth Marchioness of Londonderry,

1828–1906

 

This bust is placed by a grateful community and many friends, in whose hearts she is enshrined, to perpetuate the memory of one who by her wide sympathies, good life and good works, endeared herself to all in this ancient town.

Mary Cornelia was the daughter and heiress of Sir John Edwards, First Baronet of Garth, whose father, the solicitor John Edwards of Machynlleth, was the third son of Lewis Edwards of Talgarth, Merioneth, and the first resident at Plas Machynlleth. She married George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, known as Henry, in 1846, then Viscount Seaham, who became the Earl Vane in 1854 and the Fifth Marquess of Londonderry in 1872. The Vane-Tempests were closely connected to the social, cultural and political lives of the town and surrounding area, and particularly noted for their charity. Notably, Mary Cornelia was connected with the institutions which neighboured the initial site of her statue — the school was established by her and her husband to celebrate the birth of their son and financially supported by them throughout its operation, the hospital was the town’s first and was also financed by the Vane-Tempests, and the alms-houses were provided by Mary Cornelia for widows and the indigent poor to live in rent-free.

A.N. Coward, RCAHMW, 22.04.2022