THE parish church in Alloa was a benefactor of a mortification made by Lady Charlotte Erskine, who died at her George Street home in Edinburgh on November 24, 1788, aged 68.

In her deed of settlement dated December 27, 1787, which was registered the following December in the Book of Session, she entrusted the Trustees of the church her property which was to be used in various ways.

Among her wishes was the endowment for an assistant to the minister of Alloa and provision was made for the church to accommodate the poor of the parish.

For this accommodation of the poor, she left £1200, a substantial amount of money at the time.

When the church was expanded, her money provided extra seating for 260 people to allow the local people of the parish who had no right to any of the seats in the church somewhere to sit during sermons.

In her decree she stated that a certain number of seats 'for the use of the poor inhabitants of the town of Alloa and other poor parishioners who have no legal right to seats, and who are unable to pay rent for them, shall be let out to the inhabitants and parishioners at a moderate yearly rent'.

She went on that the rent raised was to be used to keep that part of the church 'in good condition and repair'.

The rest of the money was to be used as an additional stipend for the minister's assistant.

In addition to this, Lady Charlotte left £800 for the funding of an endowment for this assistant by establishing the allowance for him, which was to be done 'in accordance with the instructions and directions to be given by the proprietor' of the Mar Estate.

The assistant, however, was to be inducted at the confirmation of the Erskines of the Estate. The parishioners were to have no say in who the assistant was to be.

Lady Charlotte was the daughter of Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun and Lady Henrietta Johnstone, and was born in 1720.

She married Thomas Erskine, Lord Erskine, son of John Erskine 6th Earl of Mar, in 1741.

Erskine, who was 15 years older than his wife, was a Member of Parliament, firstly for Stirling between 1728 and 1734, then Clackmannan between 1747 and 1754.

Erskine predeceased his wife in March 1766, and the couple did not have any issue, so when she died, she left her estate to the parish.