Michael Ward (1683 – 21 February 1759) was an Irish politician and judge. He was the second but only surviving son of Bernard Ward of

Castle Ward Castle Ward is an 18th-century National Trust property located near the village of Strangford, in County Down, Northern Ireland, in the townland of the same name. It overlooks Strangford Lough and is 7 miles from Downpatrick and 1.5 miles fro ...

, County Down, and his wife Mary Ward, daughter of Richard Ward of

Newport, Shropshire Newport is a market town and Civil parishes in Shropshire, civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It lies north-east of Telford, west of Stafford, and is near the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. The 2001 Ce ...

and sister of Michael Ward (died 1681), who was very briefly

Bishop of Derry The Bishop of Derry is an episcopal title which takes its name after the monastic settlement originally founded at Daire Calgach and later known as Daire Colm Cille, Anglicised as Derry. In the Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in ...

.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' London John Murray 192
page 200
/ref> His father was killed in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

in 1690, when serving as

High Sheriff of Down The High Sheriff of Down is the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Down. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. Besides his judicia ...

, by Jocelyn Hamilton of Clanbrassil, who was fatally wounded in return. Michael matriculated from

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

in 1699 and entered the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1700. He was called to the

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland () is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Bar of Ireland, commonly c ...

in 1703. Ward entered the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

for

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 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

in 1713. In 1715 and 1727, he stood also for Bangor, (both constituencies had long been controlled by his wife's family, the Hamiltons), but chose to sit for Down both times. In the latter year Ward was appointed a Justice of the

Court of King's Bench (Ireland) The Court of King's Bench (of Queen's Bench when the sovereign was female, and formerly of Chief Place or Chief Pleas) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The King's Ben ...

, an office he held until 1758, although increasing ill-health made it impossible for him to sit on the Bench in his last years. He transformed

Killough Killough ( ; ) is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the Irish Sea shore near Ardglass, five miles southeast of Downpatrick. It is a conservation area notable for its sycamore-lined main street. In the 2001 Cen ...

into a port and built a road to

, the family's residence, to enable the

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

mined on the estate to be carried to the ships. In 1709, he married Anne Catharine Hamilton, daughter and co-heiress of James Hamilton of

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to whic ...

and Sophia Mordaunt, daughter of

John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt (18 June 1627 – 5 June 1675) was an English military officer and peer. Biography He was born in Lowick, Northamptonshire, the second son of John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborough and Elizabeth Howard (d. 1 ...

and Elizabeth Carey. She died a year after her husband. They had three children, a daughter and two sons. His only surviving son

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''be ...

was elevated to the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

, first as Baron Bangor in 1770 and then as

Viscount Bangor Viscount Bangor, of Castle Ward, in County Down, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. History The title was created in January 1781 for Bernard Ward, 1st Baron Bangor, who had previously represented County Down in the Irish House of Commons. ...

in 1781. His daughter Anne married

Sir John Parnell, 1st Baronet Sir John Parnell, 1st Baronet (c. 1720–1782), was an Irish politician and a baronet. Biography He was the only son of John Parnell (1680–1727), Esq., MP and later Judge of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland), and Mary, sister of the Lord C ...

; the couple were direct ancestors of

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...

. An obituary praised him for his thirty years service on the Bench, during which he had displayed "probity and assiduity".

References

1683 births 1759 deaths Lawyers from County Down Irish MPs 1713–1714 Irish MPs 1715–1727 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Down constituencies

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

Justices of the Irish King's Bench 18th-century Irish lawyers People from Bangor, County Down {{Ireland-pre1801-MP-stub