Major-General Sir Edward Wolstenholme Ward (17 August 1823 – 5 February 1890) was an Indian-born British soldier and Australian politician as well as cricket player.

Background

Born in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, he was the oldest son of John Petty Ward and his wife Eleanor Erskine, daughter of John Erskine. He was educated at

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

and joined then the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

as cadet in 1841.

Career

Shortly after his admission, he got a promotion to second lieutenant and then in 1844 to first lieutenant. After additional studies at the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

, he began working for the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...

and became second captain in 1852. Two years later, Ward was sent as deputy-master of its oversea branch to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and was promoted to captain in 1855. In January 1855 he was appointed Chief Commissioner of New South Wales Railways, a new position, and was replaced by

Captain Mann Gother Mann (21 December 1747 – 27 March 1830) was an English army officer and military engineer in the Royal Engineers. He commanded a body of militia on Dominica when the island was Invasion of Dominica (1778), captured by the French in S ...

in July. In May of that year he was nominated a non-elective member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

, sitting in it for nine months. He was appointed to the council for life in 1861, however resigned his seat in 1865. Ward was promoted to major in January 1864 and to lieutenant-colonel only few months later. When he returned to England in 1866, he was set on halfpay. He was replaced as deputy-master of the Mint by Charles Elouis, who held the position from 1868 to 1877. In 1869, he became colonel and resumed his old post as deputy-master in a new branch in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. He was awarded a Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

in 1874 and retired with a pension three years later, having been promoted to major-general. In 1879, he was further honoured as a Knight Commander. Ward played for the

New South Wales cricket team The New South Wales cricket team (formerly nicknamed NSW Blues) are an Australian men's professional first class cricket team based in the Australian state ofNew South Wales. The team competes in the Australian first class cricket competition ...

in four of its early matches against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

between 1857 and 1862. He was one of the pioneers of

roundarm bowling In cricket, roundarm bowling is a bowling (cricket), bowling style that was introduced in the first quarter of the 19th century and largely superseded underarm bowling by the 1830s. Using a roundarm action, the bowler (cricket), bowlers extend th ...

in Australia and was most effective, taking 27 wickets in his four matches at an average of 7.66. In the match against Victoria in 1858-59 he took 10 wickets for 57 runs. In 1857 the ''Australian Cricketer's Guide'' said of him: "Is an excellent and puzzling left-hand round-arm bowler, with medium pace, keeping the ball usually 'on the spot'." He was a trustee of the

Australian Museum The Australian Museum, originally known as the Colonial Museum or Sydney Museum. is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney, William Street, Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, New South Wales. It is the oldest natural ...

and member of the Australian Philosophical Society. He was elected a member of the Photographic Society in March 1853 remaining a member until at least 1859.http://rpsmembers.dmu.ac.uk/rps_results.php?mid=343 Accessed 2 March 2015. See also: Elaine Herbert, 'Who was the first RPS member in Australia?' in ''The Royal Photographic Society Australian Chapter Newsletter'', 30 (2), February 2015, pp. 10-11.

Family

On 21 November 1857, he married Anne Sophia Campbell, daughter of Robert Campbell, and had by her three sons and four daughters. Ward died in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, aged 66.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Edward Wolstenholme 1823 births 1890 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council New South Wales cricketers Royal Engineers officers

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

19th-century Australian politicians British people in colonial India Railway commissioners of New South Wales