Crosbie Ward (10 February 1832 – 10 November 1867) was a 19th-century member of parliament in New Zealand.

Early life

Ward was born in Killinchy in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...

, Ireland, in 1832. His father was Rev. Henry Ward. His paternal grandfather was Edward Ward (1753–1812), who was a member of the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fr ...

for 14 years. His grandfather's father-in-law was

William Crosbie, 1st Earl of Glandore William Crosbie, 1st Earl of Glandore (May 1716 – 11 April 1781), known as The Lord Brandon between 1762 and 1771 and as The Viscount Crosbie between 1771 and 1776, was an Irish politician. Crosbie was the son of Maurice Crosbie, 1st Baron Bra ...

(1716–1781); from this part of the family came Crosbie Ward's given name. Ward received his education at

Castletown, Isle of Man Castletown ( gv, Balley Chashtal, pronounced ) is a town in the Isle of Man, geographically within the historical parish of Malew but administered separately. Lying at the south of the island, it was the Manx capital until 1869. The centre of ...

and at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. Two elder (Edward and Henry) and one younger brother ( Hamilton) were encouraged by their father to join the emigration to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

in New Zealand. They travelled to Lyttelton on the '' Charlotte Jane'', one of the First Four Ships to arrive in December 1850. They chose Quail Island in

Lyttelton Harbour Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is one of two major inlets in Banks Peninsula, on the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zealand; the other is Akaroa Harbour on the southern coast. It enters from the northern coast of the pen ...

as their farm settlement, but the two elder brothers drowned in June 1851. Hamilton Ward, who had just turned 16, was taken in by Charlotte Godley, the wife of the founder of Canterbury,

John Robert Godley John Robert Godley (29 May 1814 – 17 November 1861) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and bureaucrat. Godley is considered to be the founder of Canterbury, New Zealand, although he lived there for only two years. Early life Godley was born in Dubl ...

. She wrote to the Ward family in Ireland, requesting that somebody come out to take care of Hamilton. Crosbie Ward was sent out; he arrived on the ''Stag'' on 17 May 1852. They found Quail Island uneconomic to farm and bought land north of

Rangiora Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury, New Zealand. It is north of Christchurch, and is part of the Christchurch metropolitan area. With an estimated population of Rangiora is the 30th largest urba ...

instead. The two brothers bought part of the Racecourse Hill run near Darfield; this was managed by Hamilton Ward.

Political career

He represented the Town of Lyttelton electorate from to 1866. He was a cabinet minister, Postmaster-General and Secretary for Crown Lands. He then represented the

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electorate from to 1867, when he resigned. He was a prominent Christchurch journalist, editing the ''

Lyttelton Times The ''Lyttelton Times'' was the first newspaper in Canterbury, New Zealand, publishing the first edition in January 1851. It was established by the Canterbury Association as part of its planned settlement of Canterbury and developed into a liber ...

''. On 13 January 1857, he married Margaret (Maggie) Townsend of

. Their only child was Harriett Louise Frances Ward. He died on 10 November 1867 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. On 18 September 1868, his widow married John George Cooke at

Holy Trinity Church Holy Trinity Church may refer to: Albania * Holy Trinity Church (Berat), Berat County * Holy Trinity Church, Lavdar, Opar, Korçë County Armenia * Holy Trinity Church, Yerevan Australia * Garrison Church, Sydney, South Wales, also known as ''H ...

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. Th ...

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Crosbie 1832 births 1867 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand journalists Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand People from County Down New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates 19th-century journalists Irish emigrants to New Zealand (before 1923) Male journalists 19th-century male writers 19th-century New Zealand politicians Alumni of Trinity College Dublin