Christopher Wandesford

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For other people named Christopher Wandesford, see Christopher Wandesford (disambiguation).

Christopher Wandesford
Born(1592-09-24)September 24, 1592
Bishop Burton
DiedDecember 3, 1640(1640-12-03) (aged 48)
Alma mater
  • Clare College, Cambridge
  • Gray's Inn
Occupation(s)Politician, Lawyer
SpouseAlice Osbourne
Children7
Parents
  • Sir George Wandesford
  • Catherine Hansby

Christopher Wandesford (24 September 1592 – 3 December 1640) was an English administrator and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1629. He was Lord Deputy of Ireland in the last months of his life.

Life

Wandesford was born on 24 September 1592 at

Beverley, Yorkshire, the son of Sir George Wandesford (1573–1612) of Kirklington, Yorkshire and his wife Catherine Hansby, daughter of Ralph Hansby of Gray's Inn
.

Educated at

Master of the Rolls.[2] Wandesford said that he went to Ireland not out of ambition, but simply out of his affection for Wentworth. He sat in the Irish House of Commons as member for Kildare in the Irish Parliaments of 1634 and 1639 and was a member of the Privy Council of Ireland
.

Wandesford's value to Wentworth was fully recognised by the latter, who wrote that of all the Privy Council he confided only in Wandesford and

pigeons to the soles of his feet, is unlikely to have improved his chances of survival.[3]

He had married Alice (1592–1659), the only daughter of Sir

litigation.[4]

Family

His son Christopher (1628–1687), made a

Thomas Danby and had sixteen children, of whom ten survived infancy.[5] There were two other surviving sons, John and George. George drowned accidentally near Richmond in 1651.[6]

Defence was a priority for Christopher Wandesford, who built a castle in Castlecomer sometime between 1635 and 1640. He had been granted Castlecomer after he argued that the O'Brennans or Brennans who had been there since 1200 held the area without legal right. Because of this, he had to build a castle "to protect his steward and collieries from the wild Irish".[7] Apparently he regretted this decision on his death bed and asked that half the rent for the entire area for the last 21 years be repaid to the O'Brennans. This was not done, despite the legal efforts of the clan. Finally in 1686 the Lord Chancellor of Ireland pronounced judgment in their favour, although it seems that this was not the end of the matter.[8]

The Wandesford family were influential in

Irish rebellion of 1798 in Enniscorthy. A member of the family also married into the Butler family of Ormonde
.

Character

Strafford's biographer,

C. V. Wedgwood, describes Wandesford as shy, self-effacing, tolerant and charitable, a profound thinker, a fine lawyer and a man who was deeply concerned for social justice.[9] Even though public opinion in Ireland had turned against Strafford's associates in his final months, Wandesford's death was genuinely mourned there.[10]

Notes

  1. ^ "Wansford, Christopher (WNST610C)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911.
  3. ^ Osborough 2006, p. 9.
  4. ^ Osborough 2006, pp. 8–16.
  5. ^ Osborough 2006, p. 11.
  6. ^ Osborough 2006, p. 12.
  7. ^ William Carrigan, History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory, Vol. II p. 158, quoting from Comber, T., Memoirs of the Life and Death of the Lord Deputy Wandesford (Cambridge, 1778).
  8. ^ Osborough 2006, pp. 15–16.
  9. Wedgwood, C.V
    Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford 1593–1641: A Revaluation Phoenix Press reissue 2000 p. 44
  10. ^ Wedgwood p. 324

References

Parliament of England
Preceded by
Member of Parliament for Aldborough
1621–1624
With: John Carvile
 Succeeded by
Preceded by
Richmond
1625–1626
With: Sir Talbot Bowes 1625
Matthew Hutton
1626 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Member of Parliament for Thirsk
1628–1629
With: William Frankland
 Parliament suspended until 1640
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