William Alexander Madocks (17 June 1773 – September 1828) was a landowner and Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for the town of Boston

Boston (UK Parliament constituency)

Boston was a parliamentary borough in Lincolnshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1547 until 1885, and then one member from 1885 until 1918, when the constituency was abolished.-History:...

 in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

 from 1802 to 1820, and then for Chippenham

Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency)

Chippenham is a parliamentary constituency, abolished in 1983 but recreated in 2010, and represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 in Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

 from 1820 to 1826. He is best known, however, for his activities as an agricultural improver in Gwynedd

Gwynedd

Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...

, especially around the towns of Porthmadog

Porthmadog

Porthmadog , known locally as "Port", and historically rendered into English as Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies east of...

 and Tremadog

Tremadog

Tremadog is a village on the outskirts of Porthmadog, in Gwynedd, north west Wales. It was a planned settlement, founded by William Madocks, who bought the land in 1798...

, both of which he founded.

Madocks' family originally came from Denbighshire

Denbighshire

Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...

 although Madocks himself was brought up in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. As the youngest son he was not wealthy, but he had great vision. His ambition was to open up this part of Wales and raise its prosperity by improving road and later rail links and by introducing manufacture. The Union with Ireland

Act of Union 1800

The Acts of Union 1800 describe two complementary Acts, namely:* the Union with Ireland Act 1800 , an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, and...

 of 1800 meant through traffic was now likely. He promoted the building of turnpike roads; and to avoid the dangerous crossing of the Traeth Mawr

Traeth Mawr

The Traeth Mawr is a polder near Porthmadog in Gwynedd in Wales. It was formerly the tidal estuary of the Afon Glaslyn, and many travellers sank in its quicksands trying to cross it. Much of it is between high mountains...

, the estuary of the Afon Glaslyn

River Glaslyn

The Afon Glaslyn is a river in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. Whilst not of great significance in terms of its length , it is one of Gwynedd's primary rivers, and has greatly influenced the landscape in which it flows....

, or the long detour via Aberglaslyn bridge, he devised an ambitious scheme to build a great embankment

Embankment (transportation)

To keep a road or railway line straight or flat, and where the comparative cost or practicality of alternate solutions is prohibitive, the land over which the road or rail line will travel is built up to form an embankment. An embankment is therefore in some sense the opposite of a cutting, and...

 across the Glaslyn estuary. This was to become part of a rail link across mid-Wales to Porth Dinllaen (now owned by the National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

) on the Llŷn Peninsula

Llŷn Peninsula

The Llŷn Peninsula extends into the Irish Sea from north west Wales, south west of the Isle of Anglesey. It is part of the modern county and historic region of Gwynedd. The name is thought to be of Irish origin, and to have the same root Laigin in Irish as the word Leinster...

 which he hoped would become the main port for Dublin from London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and the south of England. At that time the Menai Strait

Menai Strait

The Menai Strait is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales.The strait is bridged in two places - the main A5 road is carried over the strait by Thomas Telford's elegant iron suspension bridge, the first of its kind,...

 and the River Conwy

River Conwy

The River Conwy is a river in north Wales. From its source to its discharge in Conwy Bay it is a little over long. "Conwy" is sometimes Anglicized as "Conway."...

 were not bridged, but later his rivals succeeded in promoting the North Wales coast route and Holyhead

Holyhead

Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....

 became the principal port for Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

In the autumn of 1811 the embankment, known as the Cob, was finished. It had taken longer and cost more than anticipated, and Madocks’ creditors were pressing for payment. Now, an end to the financial worries seemed assured, with a toll from foot passengers and carriages, and the income from the reclaimed land. A four day feast and Eisteddfod was held to celebrate the Cob's completion.

Then in February 1812 high tides and a storm breached it. Madocks' agent and supporters held the creditors at bay, drummed up men and money from all around the county and finally repaired the breach and strengthened the whole embankment. By 1814 it was open again. But Madocks' finances were in ruins and all his properties were mortgaged. In 1821, he obtained an Act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 for a harbour at Ynys y Tywyn, to be renamed Port Madoc. By 1824, he was surveying the possible train routes from Porthmadog

Porthmadog

Porthmadog , known locally as "Port", and historically rendered into English as Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies east of...

 to the new slate quarries at Blaenau Ffestiniog

Blaenau Ffestiniog

Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It has a population of 5,000, including Llan Ffestiniog, which makes it the third largest town in Gwynedd, behind Caernarfon & Porthmadog. Although the population reached 12,000 at the peak of the slate industry, the population fell due to...

. Within a generation, the harbour was busy, with slates from Blaenau Ffestiniog reaching the harbour via the Cob, carried by the Ffestiniog Railway

Ffestiniog Railway

The Ffestiniog Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park....

. This commerce fuelled the growth of Porthmadog

Porthmadog

Porthmadog , known locally as "Port", and historically rendered into English as Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies east of...

.

In 1826 Madocks and his family travelled to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 for a holiday. Madocks wrote home frequently, sending instructions to John Williams for the preparation of their new house Morfa Lodge, (now Gelli Fair) above Porthmadog, for their return. But on the way home in 1828 Madocks died suddenly in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. He was buried on 17 September in the Père Lachaise cemetery, Paris. His daughter Eliza Anne (Maria) Ermine was only six, so his estate was held in trust until she came of age. His wife returned to her childhood home near Brecon

Brecon

Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...

 leaving the estate to be split by those who had helped finance Madocks’ ventures. The memorial to this remarkable man is the little town of Tremadog

Tremadog

Tremadog is a village on the outskirts of Porthmadog, in Gwynedd, north west Wales. It was a planned settlement, founded by William Madocks, who bought the land in 1798...

, still near-perfect in its design and setting.

Excerpt from A Brief History of Tremadog by Cyfeillion Cadw Tremadog

Sources

• Cyfeillion Cadw Tremadog, A Brief History of Tremadog leaflet
• Beazley, Elisabeth, Madocks and the Wonder of Wales London Faber and Faber 1967

External links