John Clarke Ward (abt. 1817 - 1846)

Husband of Mary Chidley (Harpur) Hackett — married 17 May 1845 in St Andrew's Church of England Cathedral, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Died 22 Aug 1846 at about age 29 in Sussex Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

John Clarke Ward was an enterprising businessman and trader with a store in Liverpool Street selling produce as 'at such low prices as will astonish his Friends'^[1]. He bought goods from various locations and sold them at a profit in Sydney. He also sold passage on his ships and hauled cargo. The newspapers record far-flung destinations such as the Bay of Islands (New Zealand)^[2], Mauritius^[3], Guam^[4] or Manilla^[5], though he mostly worked out of Launceston, Port Philip and Sydney. Ward was captain of several ships in the 1830s: the 130 ton brigantine Emma (1840-1842)^[6], the faster 96-ton brig Charlotte in 1842^[7], the 112 ton brig Star of China (1843)^[8] and the 163 or 164 ton schooner Catherine (1844-1846)^[4], which he took over from Captain Bannatyne^[9].

On 17 May 1845 at St Andrews, Sydney he married^[10] Mary Chidley Harpur by special license^[11]. He had no children by her in their brief marriage, which lasted just over a year. The special license may have been required because her former husband Walter Palmer, absconded to Chile.

His last commercial trip was to Launceston, arriving there on 18 April^[12]. On the journey back to Sydney arriving on 4 May 1846 John Ward is still captain but listed as a passenger, Captain Dryden now in command^[13]. He did not apparently depart Sydney again, and died on the 22nd of August 1846 'after a long and painful illness^[14] at his residence in Sussex Street. The obituary of 25 August 1846 gives his age as 29^[15].The impoverished Mary Chidley Harpur had thus married fortuitously into wealth and would have gained much at his death.

The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Tue 25 Aug 1846, Page 3, Family Notices^[14]

Family Notices

DIED.

At his residence, Sussex-street, on Saturday, the 22nd instant, Mr. John Clarke Ward, aged 29, after a long and painful illness, which he endured with much cheerful fortitude. He was a master mariner out of this port for the last eight years, and deservedly respected by all who knew him.

The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Mon 24 Aug 1846, Page 2, Advertising^[16]

Advertising

FUNERAL

THE friends of the late Captain John Clarke Ward, late of the Catherine, are respectfully invited to attend his funeral, to move from his late residence Sussex-street, two doors from Goulburn-street, this after-noon, at half-past four o'clock.

JAMES CURTIS, Undertaker.
Hunter-street, August 24. 3074

Sources

1. ↑ Commercial Journal and Advertiser 12 January 1839 p.1e
2. ↑ The Teetollaer and General Advertiser 30 Nov 1842, p.4a
3. ↑ May 4. 1845
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Sydney Morning Herald 12 June 1844
5. ↑ 9 June 1845 Sydney Morning Herald p.2a.
6. ↑ Port Philip Patriot 18 June 1840,p.2a
7. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald 9 August 1842,p.3e
8. ↑ Daily Southern Cross19 August 1843
9. ↑ The Teetotaller and General Advertiser 30 Nov 1842, p.4a
10. ↑ Marriage Index (NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages : accessed 18 Oct 2022), Index entry for JOHN C WARD and MARY C HARPUR; District: St Andrew's Church of England, Sydney; Registration Number: 110/1845 V1845110 30B
11. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald May 1845, p.4c
12. ↑ Launceston Examiner 18 April 1846
13. ↑ Maitland Mercury 9 May 1846 page 130a
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} 1846 'Family Notices', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 25 August, p. 3. , viewed 18 Oct 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12895446
15. ↑ The John Ward mentioned in NSW Death Registry 96/1846 V184696 109 was 59 and died on 2 February 1846, buried in Parramatta Methodist Cemetery, and hence not J.C. Ward.
16. ↑ 1846 'Advertising', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 24 August, p. 2. , viewed 18 Oct 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12895755