Wilfrid Philip Ward (2 January 1856 – 1916) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

essayist and biographer. Ward and his friend Baron

Friedrich von Hügel Friedrich von Hügel (born ''Friedrich Maria Aloys Franz Karl Freiherr von Hügel'', usually known as ''Baron von Hügel''; 5 May 1852 – 27 January 1925) was an influential Austrian Catholic layman, religious writer, and Christian apologist. Al ...

have been described as "the two leading lay English Catholic thinkers of their generation".

Life

Wilfrid Ward was born in 1856 at Old Hall,

Ware, Hertfordshire Ware is a town in Hertfordshire, England close to the county town of Hertford. It is also a civil parishes in England, civil parish in East Hertfordshire district. Location The town lies on the north–south A10 road (Great Britain), A10 road ...

, one of nine children of Catholic converts

William George Ward William George Ward (21 March 1812 – 6 July 1882) was an English theologian and mathematician. A Roman Catholic convert, his career illustrates the development of religious opinion at a time of crisis in the history of English religious though ...

and his wife Frances Wingfield Ward."Papers of Wilfrid Ward", University of St Andrews Special Collections
/ref> He first went to Downside College, then St. Edmund's College in

. He obtained a B.A. degree from London University and later attended

Catholic University College, Kensington {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Catholic University College was a short-lived nineteenth-century institution in Kensington, London. On 21 November 1873, Henry Edward Manning, Archbishop of Westminster, announced that the Roman Catholic Bishop ...

. In 1877, Ward went to the

English College, Rome The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English College, ...

to prepare for the priesthood and returned a year later to continue his studies at

Ushaw College Ushaw College (formally St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw), is a former Roman Catholic Church, Catholic seminary near the village of Ushaw Moor, County Durham, England, which is now a heritage and cultural tourist attraction. The college is known for ...

, in

Durham, England Durham ( , locally ), is a cathedral city and civil parish on the River Wear, County Durham, England. It is an administrative centre of the County Durham District, which is a successor to the historic County Palatine of Durham (which is dif ...

. In 1881, shortly before his planned ordination, Ward reconsidered, and joined the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

to take up a career in law. Subsequently discouraged, he then became a writer. Ward’s particular interests were apologetics and theology. In 1885 Ward became a lecturer on philosophy at Ushaw. In 1887 he married Josephine Mary Hope-Scott; the couple lived on the Isle of Wight. Josephine Ward became a novelist. They had five children. The eldest, Mary Josephine "Maisie" married

Frank Sheed Francis Joseph Sheed (20 March 1897 in Sydney – 20 November 1981 in Jersey City) was an Australian-born lawyer, Catholic writer, publisher, speaker, and lay theologian. He and his wife Maisie Ward were famous in their day as the names be ...

and together founded the publishing house

Sheed and Ward Sheed and Ward was a publishing house founded in London in 1926 by Catholic activists Frank Sheed and Maisie Ward. The head office was moved to New York in 1933. The United States assets of Sheed and Ward have been owned by Rowman & Littlefield ...

Biographer

In 1889, Ward published a biography of his father, ''William George Ward and the Oxford Movement''. This proving successful, he then wrote ''William George Ward and the Catholic Revival,''. Cardinal

Herbert Vaughan Herbert Alfred Henry Vaughan, MHM (15 April 1832 – 19 June 1903) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1892 until his death in 1903, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1893. He was th ...

then invited Ward to write a biography of the late Cardinal

Nicholas Wiseman Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman (3 August 1802 – 15 February 1865) was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church who became the first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850. Born ...

. This was followed in 1912 by a two volume biography of

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

.''Life of John Henry, Cardinal Newman, Based on his Private Journals and Correspondence'', Vol. 2
Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912] In 1890 Ward was appointed examiner in Mental and Moral Philosophy to the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the ''University Education (Ireland) Act 1879'' as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on 27 Apri ...

. He lectured at

Lowell Institute The Lowell Institute is a United States educational foundation located in Boston, Massachusetts, providing both free public lectures, and also advanced lectures. It was endowed by a bequest of $250,000 left by John Lowell Jr., who died in 1836. ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1914.

Editor

From 1906 to 1915, Ward edited the '' Dublin Review''. During his tenure, the journal published articles by G. K. Chesterton,

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...

Francis Thompson Francis Joseph Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer a ...

and other well-known writers. Ward believed very strongly that Catholics should be involved in the affairs of the nation. He also contributed to publications such as the ''

Edinburgh Review The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929. ''Edinburgh Review'', ...

'', ''

Quarterly Review The ''Quarterly Review'' was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River ...

'', ''Contemporary Review''. Wilfrid Ward died in 1916.

Works

* ''William George Ward and the Oxford Movement'', Macmillan & Co., 1893 st Pub. 1889 * ''William George Ward and the Catholic Revival'', Macmillan & Co., 1893 [second edition 1912.
''Witnesses to the Unseen, and Other Essays''
Macmillan & Co., 1893. * ''The Life and Times of Nicholas Wiseman'', Longmans, Green & Co., 1897.
''Problems and Persons,''
Longmans, Green, and Co., 1903
''Aubrey de Vere: A Memoir,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1904.
''Ten Personal Studies,''
Longmans, Green, and Co., 1908. * ''Life of John Henry, Cardinal Newman, Based on his Private Journals and Correspondence'', Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912.
''The Oxford Movement,''
T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1912.
''Men and Matters,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1914.
''Last Lectures of Wilfrid Ward,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1918

References

* This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Thurston, H. T.; Moore, F., eds. (1905)
''"Ward, Wilfrid Philip"''
New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.

Life

Biographer

Editor

Works

References

Further reading