William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley

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The monument to William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley, in Worcester Cathedral.

William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley (27 March 1817–7 May 1885), known as the Lord Ward from 1835 to 1860, was a British peer and benefactor.

Ward was born on 27 March 1817 at Edwardstone Boxford, Suffolk, England, the son of William Ward, 10th Baron Ward, who had succeeded in the barony of Ward on the death of his second cousin, Foreign Secretary John Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley, in 1833. His mother was Amelia, daughter of William Cooch Pillans. Ward provided financial support for the restoration of Worcester Cathedral and there is a monument to him in the cathedral. In 1860 the earldom held by his kinsman was revived when he was created Viscount Ednam, of Ednam in the County of Roxburgh, and Earl of Dudley, of Dudley Castle in the County of Stafford.

Ward married firstly Selina Constance, daughter of Hubert de Burgh, on 24 April 1851. She died on 14 November of the same year, at the age of only 22. There were no children from this marriage. He married secondly Georgina Elisabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Moncreiffe and Lady Louisa Hay-Drummond, on 21 November 1865. They had six sons and one daughter. Ward died on 7 May 1885, aged 68, at Dudley House, Park Lane, Mayfair, in London, and was buried in Witley, Surrey. He was succeeded by his eldest son William, who became a prominent Conservative politician. The Countess of Dudley survived her husband by over forty years and died in 1929.

[edit] References

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
• thePeerage. Retrieved on 2007-01-27.

[edit] External links

• William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley at Find A Grave