Michael Hanley Thompson Ward (1785 - 1859)

Biography

Hanley Ward was a convict after the Third Fleet transported to New South Wales

This profile is part of the Ward Name Study.

Michael Ward was born about 1785-1789 in London, England ^[1].

He married Sophia Jane Elizabeth Crolsen in about 1808 in Holborn, London, England and their daughter Sophia was born on 29 March 1809 in Holborn, London, England.

Michael was aged 26 when he was arrested for feloniously stealing on the 16th of February, one gallon and a half of rectified spirits, value 30 s. and one gallon and a pint of rum, value 22 s. the property of John Nicholson and William Nicholson , in their dwelling house and was tried on 20 April 1814 ^{[2] [3]}. He was convicted and sentenced to death, but this was commuted to transportation for "Life" in the Colony of New South Wales. Michael left on the convict ship the "Indefatigable", sailing in October 1814 which arrived at New South Wales, Australia on 26 April 1815 ^[4].

Two months after he left, his 23-year-old wife Sophia sailed aboard the "Northampton" from Liverpool to New South Wales with their oldest daughter, Sophia Jane Ward, as a free person ^[5].

Sophia settled in the Windsor area and Michael was assigned to Sophia to work on a property where she was living, as this was a common thing to do in the early days of the Colony. Their children were Sophia Jane (Ward) Turrell aka Gardner, Sarah Ann (Ward) Barr aka Garbutt/ Haswell/ Edwards/ Shepperd, Edward George Ward, Amelia Emily Ward, Joshua Michael Ward, George Edward Ward, Esther Berfield (Ward) Wells, Selina Maria Ward, William (Harry) Ward, Harriet Ward and Frederick Wordsworth Ward. As only Esther seems to have been Christened, and Harriet's Death recorded, there are no records of birth for the other children, but Musters, Census', Marriages and Death records give some indication of their approximate birth years. In the Census of 1822 Sophia and 4 children were residing on leased land in the Windsor district with Michael Ward, landholder. They had 13 hogs and 30 grains of maize in hand ^[6]

"Ward, Michael, ticket of leave, Indefatigable, life, landholder, Windsor Ward, Sophia, came free, Northampton, wife of M. Ward, Windsor 4 un-named children of above" and in the Census of 1824 they are recorded as "Ward, Michael, ticket of leave, Indefatigable, 1815, life, landholder, Wilberforce Ward, Sophia, came free, Northampton, 1815, wife of Michael Ward of Wilberforce Ward, Sophia, 14, came free, Northampton, daughter of above Ward, Sarah, 9, born in the colony, daughter of above Ward, Edward, 6, born in the colony, son of above Ward, Emily, 4, born in the colony, daughter of above Ward, Joshua, 2, born in the colony, son of above ^[7].

Then four years later, "Ward, Michael, 40, ticket of leave, Indefatigable, 1815, life, Protestant, labourer; Ward, Sophia, 36, came free, born Northampton, 1815; Ward, Sarah, 12, born in the colony; Ward, Emily, 8, born in the colony; Ward, Joshua, 6, born in the colony Ward, George, 4, born in the colony Ward, Hester, 2, born in the colony Ward, Selina, 1 month, born in the colony" were living at Wilberforce, New South Wales ^[8].

They lived at Wilberforce from at least 1824 to 1837 or later, then in about 1846 the family moved to the Maitland area. At some stage, her husband dropped 'Michael' from his name and began using the name Hanley Thompson Ward as when he died he was registered as Hanley Thompson Ward.

Michael died on 4 April 1859, at West Maitland, New South Wales, Australia (Michael Ward (listed as Hanley Thompson Ward), a dealer) ^[9].

He was buried at the Church of England burial ground, West Maitland, New South Wales, Australia ^[10].

Sources

1. ↑ "New South Wales, Australia, Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons, 1788-1870 Court, Land, Wills & Financial" Name: Michael Ward Birth: 1789 Civil 10 Jul 1834 Conviction Date: 20 Apr 1814 Origin: London Arrival: 1815
2. ↑ "UK, Prison Hulk Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849 Court, Land, Wills & Financial" Name: Michael Ward Birth: 1788 Civil: 20 Apr 1814 - Middlesex Residence: 6 Aug 1814 - Woolwich.
3. ↑ Court Transcript: Old Bailey Online: Michael Ward: The Trial of Michael Ward First Middlesex jury, before Mr Justice Chambre.: -20 April 1814 for which he was transported.
   Dock List Number: 327. THOMAS DODMAN and MICHAEL WARD were indicted for feloniously stealing, on the 16th of February, one gallon and a half of rectified spirits, value 30s. and one gallon and a pint of rum, value 22s. the property of John Nicholson and William Nicholson, in their dwelling house.
   JAMES NICHOLSON. I live in Woodbridge-street, Clerkenwell. I am clerk to John and William Nicholson; they are distillers. On the 16th of February, in the evening, I was sitting in the accompting-house; I saw Dodman standing at the top of the stairs leading into the cellar; he looked very hard at me, which made me suspect all was not right. I then asked Dodman where Ward, the other prisoner, was. They are servants in the employ of Messrs. Nicholson. He said he was down in the cellar. I immediately went down into the cellar, Ward seemed very much agitated in seeing me come down; he made trifling excuses, and moved from one part of the cellar to the other to try to avoid me. I followed him close up. He then came upstairs into the distill-house; I followed him up. He went to the further part of the still-house; I kept following him; he then made a sharp turn, when I heard something like spirits jolt in a bladder
   Q Where was Dodman all this time-
   A. He was standing where I first saw him; he had not gone into the cellar then. I took hold of Ward by the collar, and asked him what he had got. He took the bladder out of (sic) rectified spirits out of his breeches, and gave it into my hand. I then called Robert Wilson out of the accompting-house; I told him to take hold of Dodman, as I had no doubt of his being a party concerned.
   Q Was Dodman within sight of you while you laid hold of Ward-A. Yes, he was. He laid hold of Dodman and said he had no doubt they were both concerned. I then enquired in the house whether Mr. Nicholson was within. Mr. Nicholson came down. When Mr. Nicholson came, he took hold of Ward, and I took hold of Dodman, and then Robert Wilson went for an officer. Dodman then wanted to go to the necessary; I said he should not move. He then put his hand into his waistcoat pocket, and drew a knife. I immediately seized hold of his arm, and called to Mr. Nicholson that he had drawn a knife. He let go Ward, and came to my assistance. When he found Mr. Nicholson was coming he threw the knife from him. In the scuffle, Mr. Nicholson threw him on his back; he got up again, and threw himself down upon his belly, and attempted to burst the bladder, and with one hand he pulled it out of his breeches and threw it from him. We tied his hands. He then pretended to faint, and laid on his back until the officer came. I told the officer he was fainting. I took up the bladder which he had thrown away before the officer came. The officer said he would soon bring him about; he gave him a tap on the head. The officer then handcuffed them, and took them to the office.
   Q What became of the bladders-
   A. I took it to the office and examined it; the officer examined it with me. One bladder contained better than a gallon and a half of strong rectified spirits; that was Ward's bladder; the bladders leaked, so we emptied them out into strong bottles. The other bladder contained about a pint and a gallon of strong rum. The prisoners were committed to prison. The spirits are here; the rectified spirits are of the value of twenty shillings, and the rum twenty-two shillings; that is what it cost me'.
   Mr. Challenor. What part of the premises did this take place-
   A. In the distill-house.
   Q That is some distance from where Mr. Nicholson dwells-
   A. It is connected with the house.
   Q Dodman did not offer any personal violence to anybody with the knife-
   A. No.
   Q Do not you think he took the knife out of his pocket with intention of stabbing the bladder-
   A. I do.COURT Did he say what he meaned to do with the knife
   -A. He did not. The entrance to the distill-house is underneath the dwelling house; it is covered in and all one premises; we pay regular taxes for the distill-house as well as the house. We can go from the house into the distill-house without going into the street or into the yard.
   WILLIAM READ. I am an officer. I was sent for to Mr. Nicholson's; I received the two prisoners there. When I came, Dodman's hands were tied; I untied them and handcuffed them together. I told Dodman he must go with me; he said, he would not. These two bladders were produced to me at the time they were nearly full of spirits; I kept them until the next day. I found the bladders leaked; I put the spirits into these stone bottles; I have had it ever since. I tasted it; one was rum, and the other was a strong spirit. I searched Dodman's premises; in his bedroom I found four bottles of spirits, and this bladder, and a quantity of sugar; they were locked up in a chest. The bottles contained strong spirits like that in the bladder. I asked him how he came to do it; he replied we are two rogues together.
   ROBERT WILSON. I was called up by the first witness, James Nicholson. I know nothing more than he has stated.The prisoners left their defence to their counsel. Dodman called six witnesses, who gave him a good character.
   DODMAN, GUILTY-DEATH, aged 37
   WARD, GUILTY-DEATH, aged 26
4. ↑ "The Convict Ships 1787-1868" Bateson, Charles. 2nd ed. Glasgow : Brown, Son & Ferguson Ltd., 1985 ie 1969 Text: "The ship Northampton arrived in the colony 18 Jun 1815"
5. ↑ "New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849 " [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Text: "Sophia Ward (wife of Michael was who was transported aboard the ship Indefatigable) and daughter Sophia, came free aboard the ship Northampton."
6. ↑ Census 1822: "General Muster and land and stock muster of New South Wales 1822" Baxter, Carol, ed. Sydney: Australian Biographical and Genealogical Record in association with the Society of Australian Genealogists, 1988
7. ↑ Census 1824: "New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849" [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
8. ↑ "Census 1828: "1828 New South Wales, Australia Census (TNA Copy)" [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Citing: "Ward, Michael, 40, ticket of leave, Indefatigable, 1815, life, Protestant, labourer, Wilberforce Ward, Sophia, 36, came free, Northampton, 1815 Ward, Sarah, 12, born in the colony Ward, Emily, 8, born in the colony Ward, Joshua, 6, born in the colony Ward, George, 4, born in the colony Ward, Hester, 2, born in the colony Ward, Selina, 1 month, born in the colony"
9. ↑ Death: New South Wales Australia Deaths: Name: WARD HANLEY T Registration number: 3745/1859 Father's Given Name(s): HANLEY Mother's Given Name(s): ANN District: MAITLAND
10. ↑ Burial: Find a Grave: (Michael) Hanley Thompson Ward: BIRTH 1785 DEATH 4 Apr 1859 (aged 73–74) BURIAL Campbells Hill Cemetery Maitland, Maitland City, New South Wales, Australia PLOT Sect B4, plot 32-33 Find A Grave: Memorial #80627117