Michael Ward (Irish politician)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Sir Godfrey Kneller

Michael Ward (1683 – 21 February 1759)[1] was an Irish politician and judge.

He was the second but only surviving son of Bernard Ward of

Irish Bar
in 1703.

Ward entered the Irish House of Commons for County Down in 1713.[1] In 1715 and 1727, he stood also for Bangor, (both constituencies had long been controlled by his wife's family, the Hamiltons), but chose to sit for Down both times.[1] In the latter year Ward was appointed a Justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland), an office he held until 1758, although increasing ill-health made it impossible for him to sit on the Bench in his last years.[2] He transformed Killough into a port and built a road to Castle Ward, the family's residence, to enable the lead mined on the estate to be carried to the ships.[3]

In 1709, he married Anne Catharine Hamilton, daughter and co-heiress of James Hamilton of Bangor, County Down and Sophia Mordaunt, daughter of John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt and Elizabeth Carey.[4] She died a year after her husband. They had three children, a daughter and two sons.[5] His only surviving son Bernard was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland, first as Baron Bangor in 1770 and then as Viscount Bangor in 1781. His daughter Anne married Sir John Parnell, 1st Baronet; the couple were direct ancestors of Charles Stewart Parnell.[4]

An obituary praised him for his thirty years service on the Bench, during which he had displayed "probity and assiduity".

References

  1. ^ a b c "Leigh Rayment - Irish House of Commons 1692-1800". Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ a b Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 London John Murray 1926
  3. ^ "Public Record Office of Northern Ireland - Ward Papers" (PDF). Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  4. ^ a b Burke, John (1832). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. Vol. I (4th ed.). London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley. p. 75.
  5. ^ Lodge, John (1789). Mervyn Archdall (ed.). The Peerage of Ireland or A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom. Vol. VI. Dublin: James Moore. pp. 70–71.
Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by
Member of Parliament for County Down
1713–1727
With: Nicholas Price 1713–1715
Trevor Hill 1715–1717
Sir John Rawdon, 3rd Bt 1717–1724
Robert Hawkins Magill
1724–1727
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Member of Parliament for Bangor
1715–1716
With: Hans Hamilton
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Member of Parliament for Bangor
1727
With: Acheson Moore
Succeeded by