Richard Charles Ward QC (28 July 1916 – 24 November 1977), generally known as Dick Ward, was an Australian jurist and politician. Ward was born in

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

and attended Victoria Street School and

Melbourne High School Melbourne High School is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex education, single-sex Selective school, academically selective secondary school, secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb o ...

before studying law at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...

. Around 1938 he became a partner in a

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

legal practice, and in 1947 won election to the first

Northern Territory Legislative Council The Northern Territory Legislative Council was the partly elected governing body of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1947 until its replacement by the fully elected Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 1974. Prior to 1947, there h ...

, although he did not stand for re-election in 1949. He spent some years in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

before returning to the Northern Territory and the Legislative Council in 1956. In 1966 he was preselected to stand for the Labor Party in the federal seat following

Jock Nelson John Norman Nelson (28 May 1908 – 20 June 1991) was an Australian politician. Born in Bundaberg, Queensland, he was the son of politician Harold Nelson. Jock Nelson was educated at state schools in Darwin before becoming a jackeroo and ...

's retirement, but he was defeated by

Sam Calder Stephen Edward "Sam" Calder AM, OBE, DFC (10 August 1916 – 30 September 2008) was a decorated World War II flying ace, member of the Australian House of Representatives, and one of the founders of the Northern Territory Country Liberal Part ...

of the Country Party. He returned to the Legislative Council, winning the seat of Ludmilla, which he held until 1974. In 1974 Ward was appointed to the

Supreme Court of the Northern Territory The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory is the superior court for the Australian Territory of the Northern Territory. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. It is ar ...

. He died in Sydney in 1977 after a kidney collapse.

Recognition

Dick Ward Drive, which runs between Parap and Nightcliff. was named for him, as were Ward Crescent, Darwin, (Ward Street in the Victoria/Daly shire was named for

Ebenezer Ward Ebenezer Ward (4 September 1837 – 8 October 1917) was an Australian politician and journalist. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1870 to 1880 and from 1881 to 1890, representing Gumeracha (1870–1880), Burra (18 ...

, who served under Finniss in the 1864 NT Survey expedition. then Minister for Agriculture and Education in the Boucaut Government. Ward Road in the Litchfield area was named for Mary Alice Ward, teacher and pastoralist who, with her husband, developed Banka Banka cattle station, north of Tennant Creek.)

References

1916 births 1977 deaths Judges of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory Australian King's Counsel Melbourne Law School alumni Lawyers from Melbourne Judges from Melbourne Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Council 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-politician-stub