Ward

My paternal grandfather was Herbert Ambrose Ward.

Herbert's parents were: Arthur Ward and Barbara Muriel Hargreaves.

Arthur Ward

Arthur Ward was born in 1882 in Turnstile Lane in Bungay, county Suffolk. He was well known in the town of Bungay as "Sal". His older brother Harry was known as "Dodd". It is believed that Arthur was one of sixteen children! To date I have only successfully traced twelve.
Arthur followed in the footsteps of his father William in the Fishmonger trade of Bungay. Arthur wheeled a barrow and called out his wares through the streets of Bungay, selling fresh fish to the locals. (In her personal biography - "Do You Remember? Bungay, a Gracious Town" - Iris Reeve mentions The Ward family business.) The Ward family were all well known in Bungay for their authentic "costermonger" characters, from Ostlers in the eighteenth century, to Blacksmiths and Fish Hawkers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Arthur and his brother Harry both worked for their father William before both branched out into their own businesses after William's death. Harry is listed in Kelly's Directories as Grocer/Fruiterer in Upper Olland Street, Bungay with his wife Caroline, formerly Thompson. When I visited Bungay in 2007, I took the photograph, shown below, which is the former site of Harry's fruit shop. You can find a photograph of Harry Ward standing outside his shop in "Bungay To Beccles Volume One" by Terry & Chris Reeve:

The site of Harry Ward's Fruit Shop

During World War One Arthur served with the 1st Battalion/5th Division Norfolk Regiment as a Private. From my research into the 5th Division it would appear that Arthur would have served at places such as Hill 60, Gallipoli and Palestine.
According to his Service Records he deserted the army circa 1916 (the reason is unknown) but Arthur was granted permission to resume his post with a different Battalion and continued to serve with the army until 1920.
Both before and after World War One Arthur was a regular at the Swan Inn Public-House in Bungay. Arthur would have known several members of the Jolly family rather well, according to family stories and photographs, such as this one:



The Regulars of the Swan Inn, Bungay
Seen here are various Jolly family members
and seated front, 2nd from right, is Arthur Ward


WARD ANCESTRY

The Ward ancestry has been so far traced back to Henry Ward (born around 1748). It is not known where Henry was born or baptised. Henry married Rosamund (Rose) Curtis 3 June 1771 in Bungay and they had five known children:
William (bapt. 10 December 1778)
John (bapt. 10 September 1781)
Samuel (bapt. 24 March 1784)
James (bapt. 15 January 1787)
Mary (bapt. 10 January 1791) 

Mary Ward (my 4 x g/grandmother) never married. The Bungay St Mary parish registers indicate that she had at least six illegitimate children:
Henry (1810)
Daniel (1815) (died 1815)
William (1818)
Frederick (1821) Read more about him here
Alfred (1823) (died 1833)
Hannah (1828) (died 1828)

Mary Ward made her living as a Laundress/Starcher and she died in 1857.

Henry Ward

Henry Ward married Hannah Button in 1837. Hannah was the d/o of Abraham Button and Elizabeth, formerly Clarke. The Button family originated from Denton, co. Norfolk. Henry was a Blacksmith by trade.
Henry and Hannah Ward had seven known children:
Henry (1837)
Eliza (1840)
Charlotte (1842)
William (1844)
Caroline (1846)
Charles (1849) (d)
Charles (1854) 


William Ward

William Ward married Eliza Knowles in 1867 in Metfield, county Suffolk. Eliza was born in 1847 in Metfield and was d/o John Knowles and Mary Ann, formerly Gardner. William and Eliza Ward had at least twelve known children, although family stories tell of at least sixteen children:
Charlotte (1867)
William (1869) (died 1879)
Frederick (1871) (died 1872)
Harry Charles (1872)
Frederick (1875) (died 1885)
Kate (1877) (died 1878)
Ernest Edward (1879)
William (1880) (died 1887)
Arthur (17 May 1882) My great-grandfather (see above)
Herbert (17 November 1883)
John (1885) (died 1888)
Maud (1892) (died 1893)

William Ward worked as an Agricultural Labourer and Butcher's Apprentice until he began working as a Fish Hawker/Merchant/Monger in the late 1870s. In the mid-to-late 1880s William owned his own Fishmonger business in Upper Olland Street, Bungay.





2 comments:

  1. This is fascinating. I am a Ward descended from Henry Ward b1810. will be in touch in 2016 to follow up on some of this. Rowena

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  2. I am seeking information on a W. C. Ward who lived on Flixton Road in 1895. At that time he wrote to my Grandfather who was living in Buffalo, New York, USA. Both he and my grandfather, Henry Walter Plummer, once worked for the printers Clay and Taylor. When he wrote in 1895 he had just retired. Is he from your family?

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