
Luke Batterham
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OSCAR WILDE AMONG THE SCHWABES: Glyn Garth, a large villa on the road from the Menai Bridge to Beaumaris, was to have considerable resonance in Wilde's career – even though, so far as we are aware, this presentation signature is the first evidence that has come to light that Wilde ever set foot in the house. The villa's original owners, Salis Schwabe and (especially) his wife Julia, had extraordinarily wide cultural contacts, which included the Carlyles and Mrs Gaskell, and extended as far afield as Chopin and Wagner. Their daughter, also called Julia, married the lawyer Sir Frank Lockwood, while their son George Salis-Schwabe, like Lockwood a Liberal MP, had a son by the name of Maurice. It was Maurice who was responsible for introducing Wilde to Alfred Taylor, who (as came to light at the trial) procured him rent boys. And it was Maurice's uncle, Sir Frank Lockwood, Solicitor General at the time of the trial, who took over the prosecution after the inconclusive first trial, helping secure Wilde's conviction by his powerful closing speech.