Col. Robert Ward PC (Ire) (14 July 1754 – March 1831), styled The Honourable from 1770, was an Irish politician and colonel of the South Down militia.

Background

He was the fourth son of

Bernard Ward, 1st Viscount Bangor Bernard Ward, 1st Viscount Bangor (18 August 1719 – 20 May 1781), was an Irish politician and peer. Background He was the only surviving son of Michael Ward (Irish politician), Michael Ward of Castle Ward, County Down, one of the justices of t ...

and his wife Lady Ann Bligh, daughter of John Bligh, 1st Earl of Darnley and his wife

Theodosia Bligh, 10th Baroness Clifton Theodosia Bligh, 10th Baroness Clifton (''née'' Lady Theodosia Hyde; 9 November 169530 July 1722), was an English peeress. Life Baroness Clifton was the third child and second daughter of Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon and Katherine Hy ...

. His older brothers were

Nicholas Ward, 2nd Viscount Bangor Nicholas Ward, 2nd Viscount Bangor (5 December 1750 – 11 September 1827), styled The Honourable from 1770 until 1781, was an Irish politician and peer. He was the eldest son of Bernard Ward, 1st Viscount Bangor and his wife Lady Ann Bligh, dau ...

and Edward Ward. Following the latter's death in 1812, he conveyed the by-that-time-insane 2nd Viscount out of his residence

Castle Ward Castle Ward is an 18th-century National Trust property located near the village of Strangford, in County Down, Northern Ireland, in the townland of the same name. It overlooks Strangford Lough and is 7 miles from Downpatrick and 1.5 miles fro ...

and plundered it.

Career

He entered the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

in 1777, sitting for the borough of

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; ) is the county town of County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had ...

until 1783. Ward was elected for

Killyleagh Killyleagh (; ) is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the A22 road between Belfast and Downpatrick, on the western side of Strangford Lough. It had a population of 2,787 people in the 2021 Census. It is bes ...

in 1790 and represented it until 1798, when he was returned for Bangor, the family's customary constituency, until the Act of Union in 1801. In November of the latter year, he was sworn of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Down The High Sheriff of Down is the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Down. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. Besides his judicia ...

for 1792–93. Ward was a trustee of the Irish Linen Board and from 1805 was Governor of County Down. In 1800, he became the first colonel of the new established South Downshire Militia. Ward won a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

to the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

for Down in May 1812, however he did not stand in the next general election in

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôctō'' meaning "eight") after Januar ...

.Brian Walker, Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922, P 208

Family

In May 1782, he married firstly, Sophia Frances Whaley, third daughter of Richard Chapel Whaley, and had by her four sons and a daughter. She died in 1793 and Ward married secondly, Louisa Jane Symes, second daughter of Reverend Abraham Symes, four years later. By his second wife, he had four sons and two daughters Ward died in 1831, aged 76. His oldest son

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

was a diplomat and his fifth son

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

a vice-admiral in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. His daughter Anne-Catherine married the barrister John Goddard Richards of Ardamine Estate,

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Robert 1754 births 1831 deaths

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

19th-century Irish people Politicians from County Down Irish MPs 1776–1783 Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish MPs 1798–1800 Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Down constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1807–1812 Younger sons of viscounts High sheriffs of Down Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Down constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Wicklow constituencies