_Viscount Castlecomer_ (Vol. ii., p. 376.).--S.A.Y. asks whether Lord
Deputy Wandesford (not Wanderforde) "ever took up this title, and what
became of it afterwards?" He never did; for on the receipt of the patent,
in the summer of 1640, Wandesford exclaimed, "Is this a time for a faithful
subject to be exalted, when his king, the fountain of honours, is likely to
be reduced lower than ever." A few months afterwards he died of a broken
heart. We are told that he concealed the patent, and his grandson was the
first of the family--apparently by a fresh creation in 1706--who assumed
the title. The neglect of sixty-six years, perhaps, rendered this
necessary: Beatson does not notice the first creation. The life of this
active and useful statesman, the friend and relative of Strafford, was
compiled from his daughter's papers, by his descendant, Thomas Comber,
LL.D. Of this work Dr. Whitaker availed himself in the very interesting
memoir which he has given of the Lord Deputy, in his _History of
Richmondshire_, written, as we may suppose it would be by so devoted {430}
an admirer of Charles I., with the warmest feelings of respect and
admiration.
"The death of my cousin Wandesford," said Lord Strafford, "more affects
me than the prospect of my own; for in him is lost the richest magazine
of learning, wisdom, and piety that these times could boast."