Thomas Cromwell, First Earl of Ardglass and Richard West

Thomas Cromwell (1594-1653),
First Earl of Ardglass
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Art Prints on Demand. 

In 1605, having got himself into all sorts of political trouble in England, which earned him a stay in the Tower of London, Edward Cromwell (1560-1607) made an agreement with the Irish McCartan family to take over their estates.  

He was then made governor of Lecale and bought the Barony of Lecale outright in 1606. He died in 1607 and was buried in Downpatrick Cathedral, to be succeeded by his son, Thomas Cromwell, who in turn was to be created Earl of Ardglass, and the 1st Viscount Lecale as a reward for his support for Charles I. This royalism was to get him into further hot water once Charles I had met his end. Cromwell was however able to buy himself out of trouble, paying 460 pounds to the English parliament for his sins.

Richard West was a Captain to Thomas Cromwell, and it was through Cromwell that the Wests received their own Irish lands, in both Ballydugan and elsewhere. 

Thomas Cromwell died in 1653 and there are apparently a number of references to the West family in his will.