Sir John Ward (c. 1650–1726), of Hookfield, Clay Hill, Epsom, Surrey and St Laurence Pountney, London, was a British merchant, banker and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

between 1701 and 1726. He was an original

Governor of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent choosing and mentoring a successor. The governor ...

and served as

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

in 1718. Ward was the second son of John Ward, commissioner of customs, of Tanshelf, near Pontefract, Yorkshire and his wife Elizabeth Vincent, daughter of Thomas Vincent of Barnbrough, Yorkshire. His uncle was Sir Patience Ward, Lord Mayor of London in 1680. He married Mary Bucknell, the daughter of Sir William Bucknall of Oxhey Place, Hertfordshire on 17 April 1684. In 1700 he acquired Hookfield Park on Clay Hill Epsom, with the help of his father in law. Ward was one of the original directors of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

from 1694 to 1699, served as Deputy Governor from 1699 to 1701 and as

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

from 1701 to 1703. He then resumed his directorship from 1703 to his death.''Governors of the Bank of England''.
Bank of England, London, 2013
Archived here.
/ref> He was also a director of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

from 1703 to 1707 and from 1709 to 1711. Ward was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for

Bletchingley Bletchingley (historically "Blechingley") is a village in Surrey, England. It is on the A25 road to the east of Redhill and to the west of Godstone, has a conservation area with medieval buildings and is mostly on a wide escarpment of the Gre ...

at the first general election of 1701, with the support of his friend Sir Robert Clayton. He was returned unopposed again at the second general election of 1701 and in the general elections of 1702 and 1705. At the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November the Whi ...

he was elected in a contest as MP for

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. In 1709 he became Freeman of the Merchant Taylors’ Company and its master for the year 1709 to 1710. He was also elected a London alderman for Candlewick ward on 7 April 1709. He was unsuccessful in the general elections of

1710 In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Saturday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 1 – In Prussia, Cölln is merged with Alt-Berlin ...

and

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. He was knighted on 25 September 1714. Ward was elected again as MP for the City of London at the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election was held on 22 January 1715 to 9 March 1715, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliam ...

. He was selected as

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for the year 1715 to 1716 and was elected

for the year 1718 to 1719. He did not stand at the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

but was returned as MP for

Dunwich Dunwich () is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon ...

at a by-election on 7 December 1722. Politically he was regarded as a Whig, but usually very independent of the government, and at one time as MP for the City of London was supported by the Tories and largely voted for their candidates. Towards the end of his life he had reconciled with the government and worked for their interests in the City. Ward died in March 1726, leaving a son, John, and ten daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, John 1650s births 1726 deaths Year of birth uncertain Governors of the Bank of England British bankers Sheriffs of the City of London 18th-century lord mayors of London Deputy governors of the Bank of England Directors of the British East India Company Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for the City of London

See also

References