Mary Erskine

Businesswoman, philanthropist, early supporter of female education.

Mary Erskine's first marriage was in 1661 to Robert Kennedy, a writer, who died in 1671; her second was in 1675 to James Hair, a druggist (apothecary), who died in 1683. She had one daughter, Euphame. On the death of her first husband, Mary Erskine became a shopkeeper; on the death of her second, she paid off his debts and became a successful businesswoman. She let property and was a moneylender (also described as a private banker) to businessmen, professionals, and to some women, usually widows continuing their husbands' business, or starting their own. In 1694, she responded generously to a proposal by the Edinburgh Merchant Company to establish a foundation in the Cowgate, Edinburgh, for the schooling of the daughters of Edinburgh burgesses. The aim was to board and educate orphaned, impoverished girls of the city's middle classes. The Merchant Maiden Hospital was founded on 4 June 1694. In 1706, she purchased land and buildings for the Hospital, and on her death in 1707, bequeathed a considerable sum to the foundation, and a similar sum to the Incorporations of Trades who had followed the example of the Company of Merchants to found their own (Trades') Maiden Hospital. Her foundation became the Edinburgh Ladies' College in 1896, then in 1944 Mary Erskine School – one of the oldest girls' schools in the world. Mary Erskine was buried in Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh.