Captain R.H. Wandesforde

Captain R.H. Prior-Wandesforde

Photograph of Captain Richard Henry Prior-Wandesforde

Captain R.H. Prior-Wandesforde

Captain R.H. Prior-Wandesforde

Photograph of Captain Richard Henry Prior-Wandesforde

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Richard Henry (R.H.) Prior-Wandesforde was born in 1870. He served as a Captain in the Royal Field Artillery in the British Army,  and served during World War One. He inherited Castlecomer Demesne and other family lands from his grandmother, Mrs. Sarah Prior-Wandesforde. He married Florence Jackson von Schwartz Pryor of Halifax, Nov Scotia, and was elected as a Local Government Councillor in 1914.

The "Captain", as he was locally referred to, took a great interest in the industry of Castlecomer, especially in the mines. These had previously been leased and sub leased from the family, and worked privately. He took personal control of the mines and invested private money to improve and upgrade the industry's setup.

At the beginning of the century, R.H. Prior-Wandesforde founded the Castlecomer Agricultural Bank to assist small farmers, the Castlecomer Basket Factory, and the Castlecomer Tramway Co. Ltd. Although the plans for the tramway were drawn up, it never progressed beyond the planning stage.

Railway

Plans for a pre World War One railway line were mapped out for the area, as far as Crettyard. However, when the line was built with the backing of R.H. Wandesforde the distance was amended and Crettyard was no longer included. Partial financing for the Castlecomer Branch line came from a War Office Grant, which was given to ease post war unemployment. The first passenger train service between Castlecomer and Kilkenny took place on February 21st 1921.

The mines benefited significantly from the new line, as a railway coal depot was created at Deerpark; an aerial ropeway from the other collieries fed the depot. Transportation of coal and speed of delivery was improved greatly.

In his lifetime, R.H. Wandesforde had made his mark on the land of Castlecomer, housing, industry, and the community in general. Upon his death in 1956 at the age of eighty-six, the world he had known and coal mines he had developed went into decline.