John William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley, PC, FRS (9 August 1781 – 6 March 1833), known as the Honourable John Ward from 1788 to 1823 and as the 4th Viscount Dudley and Ward from 1823 to 1827, was a British politician and slave holder. He served as

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

from 1827 to 1828.

Background and education

Dudley was the son of

William Ward, 3rd Viscount Dudley and Ward William Ward, 3rd Viscount Dudley and Ward (21 January 1750 – 25 April 1823) was a British peer and politician. Ward was the son of John Ward, 1st Viscount Dudley and Ward, by his second wife Mary Carver. He was elected to the House of Commons ...

, and his wife Julia Bosville, and was educated at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

(starting at Oriel College in 1798 and transferring to

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

as a Gentleman Commoner in 1800).

Political career

Dudley entered the House of Commons in 1802 as one of two representatives for Downton. He held this seat until 1803 and later represented

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

from 1803 to 1806, Petersfield from 1806 to 1807, Wareham from 1807 to 1812, Ilchester from 1812 to 1819 and

Bossiney Bossiney ( kw, Boskyny, meaning ''Cyni's dwelling'') is a village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is north-east of the larger village of Tintagel which it adjoins: further north-east are the Rocky Valley and Trethevy. Until 1832 t ...

from 1819 to 1823. The latter year he succeeded his father in the peerage and took his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. In 1827 Ward was appointed

under

George Canning George Canning (11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as Foreign Secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the Unit ...

, a post he held also under

Lord Goderich Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon, (1 November 1782 – 28 January 1859), styled The Honourable F. J. Robinson until 1827 and known between 1827 and 1833 as The Viscount Goderich (pronounced ), the name by which he is best known to ...

and the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

, resigning office in May 1828. In 1827 he was admitted to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

and created Viscount Ednam, of Ednam in the County of Roxburgh, and Earl of Dudley, of Dudley Castle in the County of Stafford. As foreign minister Ward was only a cipher; but he was a man of considerable learning and had some reputation as a writer and a talker. Dudley took an interest in the foundation of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, and his Letters to Edward Copleston, the Bishop of Llandaff, were published by the bishop in 1840.

Slave holder

Dudley was associated with three different cases, he owned 665 slaves in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and his estate was awarded a £12,728 payment at the time (worth £ in ).

Personal life

Dudley died unmarried on 6 March 1833, aged 51. His two viscountcies and his earldom became extinct on his death while he was succeeded in his junior title of Baron Ward by his second cousin Reverend William Humble Ward.

Industries of the estate

As Lord of Dudley, John Ward inherited mineral bearing lands in the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

region of England which included coal and limestone mines and furnaces. An agreement to construct a rail line was signed in 1827 by James Foster, a local ironmaster, and Francis Downing, the mineral agent of John William Ward. The line connected some of the coal pits owned by the Dudley estate to the

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywoo ...

. The line opened in June 1829 and was operated by the early steam locomotive ''Agenoria''. This line was later connected to a network of private railways owned by John Ward's successors, which became known as the

Earl of Dudley’s Railway The Earl of Dudley’s Railway or Pensnett Railway, was a railway that developed from a single line opened in 1829 to, at its maximum extent, a long network around the Earl of Dudley’s Iron Works at Round Oak near Brierley Hill. History ...

. John William Ward inherited estates in Jamaica from his grandmother Mary, Viscountess Dudley and Ward, which included enslaved people. After emancipation of the slaves in 1833, the Dudley estate received compensation for the freed slaves (the Earl having died by this time).

Works

Letters from Ward to Helen D'Arcy Stewart were published as ''Letters to "Ivy" from the first Earl of Dudley'' (1905).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, John Ward, 1st Earl of Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford British Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs British Secretaries of State Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ward, John William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley Ward, John William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley Ward, John William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley Ward, John William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley Ward, John William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley Ward, John William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley UK MPs who inherited peerages UK MPs who were granted peerages Ward, John William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom 1781 births 1833 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall Fellows of the Royal Society John Recipients of payments from the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 Peers of the United Kingdom created by George IV