Gerald Ernest Francis Ward (9 November 1877 – 30 October 1914) was an English first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and British Army officer. The son of William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley he was born at the family home of

Himley Hall Himley Hall is an early 17th-century country house situated in Staffordshire, England. It is situated in the south of the county in the small village of Himley, near to the town of Dudley and the city of Wolverhampton. Himley Hall is a Grade I ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

in November 1877. He was educated at Eton College, where he was the most successful bowler of his year. After completing his education at Eton, he opted for a career in the military. He initially served as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Worcestershire Regiment The Worcestershire Regiment was a line infantry regiment in the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot and the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot. The regimen ...

, before transferring to the

1st Life Guards The 1st Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 1st Troop of Horse Guards and 1st Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated w ...

in January 1899. Later that year he gained promotion to lieutenant. Ward served in the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902. Following the conclusion of the war, Ward returned to England where he played in a first-class cricket match for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against Oxford University at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

in 1903. Batting just once in a drawn match, Ward scored 8 runs in the MCC first innings before being dismissed by

Adolph von Ernsthausen Adolph Christian Ernest von Ernsthausen (17 October 1880 – 29 May 1928) was an English first-class cricketer active 1900–04 who played for Surrey and Oxford University. He was born in Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which ...

. Ward served his elder brother, the

2nd Earl of Dudley William Humble Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley, (25 May 1867 – 29 June 1932), was a British aristocrat, politician, and military officer who served as the fourth Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1908 to 1911. He was previously Lord Lieut ...

, as his '' aide-de-camp'' during his tenure as

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...

. He was invested as a member of the Royal Victorian Order in May 1904, as part of the visit of Edward VII to Ireland. He was placed on the reserve list of officers in March 1907. Ward served with the 1st Life Guards at the outbreak of the First World War, where he saw action during the first few months of the conflict on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

. He fought at the First Battle of Ypres, where he was killed in action at Zandvoorde on 30 October 1914. His body was never recovered and he is commemorated at the Menin Gate. He was survived by his widow, Lady Evelyn Selina Louisa Crichton, daughter of John Crichton, 4th Earl Erne. His grandfather, Sir Thomas Moncreiffe and brother-in-law Dermot Blundell, both played first-class cricket.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Gerald 1877 births 1914 deaths Military personnel from Staffordshire Younger sons of earls People from South Staffordshire District People educated at Eton College Worcestershire Regiment officers British Life Guards officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Members of the Royal Victorian Order British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I Gerald Cricketers from Staffordshire