Bernard Ward, 1st Viscount Bangor

Bernard Ward, 1st Viscount Bangor (18 August 1719 – 20 May 1781),[1] was an Irish politician and peer.

The 1st Viscount Bangor

Background

He was the only surviving son of Michael Ward of Castle Ward, County Down, and his wife Anne Catharina Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton.[1]

Career

Ward entered the Irish House of Commons in 1745, representing Down, the same constituency his father had represented, until 1770,[2] when he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Bangor, of Castle Ward, in the County of Down.[3] In 1761, he was also elected for Killyleagh and in 1768 for Bangor, however chose not to sit both times.[2] Ward was further honoured in 1781, when he was created Viscount Bangor, of Castle Ward, in the County of Down.[4]

Family

In December 1747, he married Lady Ann Magill, daughter of John Bligh, 1st Earl of Darnley and his wife Theodosia Bligh, 10th Baroness Clifton and the widow of Robert Magill of Gill Hall, and had by her four sons and four daughters:[5]

• Nicholas Ward, 2nd Viscount Bangor (1750–1827)
• John Ward, died young
• Hon. Edward Ward (1753–1812)
• Hon. Robert Ward (1754–1831)
• Hon. Anna Catharine Ward
• Hon. Sophia Ward
• Hon. Amelia Ward, married Rev. Hugh Montgomery
• Hon. Harriet Ward

Ward died, aged 61, at his seat Castle Ward.[6] He was succeeded in his titles by his oldest son Nicholas, later placed under disability due to insanity.[7] Both his third son Edward and fourth son Robert sat in the Parliament of Ireland.[8]

Ward rebuilt Castle Ward in the early 1760s in a style which represented a compromise between the Viscount's favoured classical style and his wife's favoured Gothic style. He also enlarged the estate by purchasing adjacent land and remodelled it in a more open style with a deerpark.

References

1. Lodge, Edmund (1838). The Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage (6th ed.). London: Saunder and Otley. pp. 38.
2. "Leigh Rayment - Irish House of Commons 1692-1800". Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
3. "No. 11043". The London Gazette. 15 May 1770. p. 3.
4. "No. 12146". The London Gazette. 19 December 1780. p. 2.
5. Debrett, John (1828). Debrett's Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. vol. II (17th ed.). London: G. Woodfall. p. 785.
6. "ThePeerage - Bernard Ward, 1st Viscount Bangor". Retrieved 13 August 2009.
7. Sylvanus, Urban (1827). The Gentleman's Magazine. part II. London: J. B. Nicholls. p. 463.
8. "Public Record Office of Northern Ireland - Ward Papers" (PDF). Retrieved 13 August 2009.

Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by Arthur Hill Robert Hamilton	Member of Parliament for Down 1745–1770 With: Arthur Hill 1745–1766 Henry Seymour-Conway 1766–1768 Roger Hall 1768–1770	Succeeded by Roger Hall Robert Stewart
Preceded by Alexander Hamilton James Stevenson	Member of Parliament for Killyleagh 1761 With: John Congreve	Succeeded by John Blackwood John Congreve
Preceded by John Parnell Robert Hamilton	Member of Parliament for Bangor 1768 With: John Blackwood	Succeeded by Hon. Nicholas Ward John Blackwood
Peerage of Ireland
New creation	Viscount Bangor January – May 1781	Succeeded by Nicholas Ward
	Baron Bangor 1770–1781