Bernard Ward, 1st Viscount Bangor

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

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 been returned, 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]

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]

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

References

  1. 1 2 Lodge, Edmund (1838). The Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage (6th ed.). London: Saunder and Otley. p. 38.
  2. 1 2 "Leigh Rayment - Irish House of Commons 1692-1800". Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  3. The London Gazette: no. 11043. p. 3. 15 May 1770. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  4. The London Gazette: no. 12146. p. 2. 19 December 1780. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  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
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