The Earl of Dudley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 30 April 1827 (1827-04-30) – 2 June 1828 (1828-06-02) | |
| Monarch | George IV |
| Prime Minister | George Canning The Viscount Goderich The Duke of Wellington |
| Preceded by | George Canning |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Aberdeen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1781-08-09)9 August 1781 |
| Died | 6 March 1833(1833-03-06) (aged 51) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Tory |
| Parent(s) | William Ward, 3rd Viscount Dudley and Ward Julia Bosville |
| Alma mater | |
John William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley,PC,FRS (9 August 1781 – 6 March 1833), known as the HonourableJohn Ward from 1788 to 1823 and as the4th Viscount Dudley and Ward from 1823 to 1827, was a British politician and slave holder. He served asForeign Secretary from 1827 to 1828.
Dudley was the son ofWilliam Ward, 3rd Viscount Dudley and Ward, and his wife Julia Bosville, and was educated atOxford University (starting atOriel College in 1798 and transferring toCorpus Christi College, Oxford as aGentleman Commoner in 1800).
Dudley entered theHouse of Commons in 1802 as one of two representatives forDownton. He held this seat until 1803 and later representedWorcestershire from 1803 to 1806,Petersfield from 1806 to 1807,Wareham from 1807 to 1812,Ilchester from 1812 to 1819 andBossiney from 1819 to 1823. The latter year he succeeded his father in the peerage and took his seat in theHouse of Lords.
In 1827 Ward was appointedForeign Secretary underGeorge Canning, a post he held also underLord Goderich and theDuke of Wellington, resigning office in May 1828. In 1827 he was admitted to thePrivy Council and createdViscount Ednam, of Ednam in the County of Roxburgh, andEarl of Dudley, of Dudley Castle in the County of Stafford. As foreign minister Ward was only a cipher; but he was a man of considerable learning and had some reputation as a writer and a talker. Dudley took an interest in the foundation of theUniversity of London, and his Letters toEdward Copleston, theBishop of Llandaff, were published by the bishop in 1840.[1]
Dudley was associated with three different cases, he owned 665 slaves inJamaica and his estate was awarded a £12,728 payment at the time (worth £1.53 million in 2023[2]).[3]
Dudley died unmarried on 6 March 1833, aged 51. His two viscountcies and his earldom became extinct on his death while he was succeeded in his junior title of Baron Ward by his second cousin ReverendWilliam Humble Ward.[1]
As Lord of Dudley, John Ward inherited mineral bearing lands in theBlack Country region of England which included coal and limestone mines and furnaces. An agreement to construct a rail line was signed in 1827 byJames Foster, a local ironmaster, and Francis Downing, the mineral agent of John William Ward.[4] The line connected some of the coal pits owned by the Dudley estate to theStaffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. The line opened in June 1829 and was operated by the early steam locomotiveAgenoria. This line was later connected to a network of private railways owned by John Ward's successors, which became known as theEarl of Dudley’s Railway.[5]
John William Ward inherited estates in Jamaica from his grandmother Mary, Viscountess Dudley and Ward, which included enslaved people. After emancipation of the slaves in 1833, the Dudley estate received compensation for the freed slaves (the Earl having died by this time).[6]
Letters from Ward toHelen D'Arcy Stewart were published asLetters to "Ivy" from the first Earl of Dudley (1905).[7]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dudley, Barons and Earls of".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 636.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Downton 1802–1803 With:Hon. Edward Bouverie 1802–1803 Sir John Blaquiere 1803 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Worcestershire 1803–1806 With:William Lygon (I) 1803–1806 William Lygon (II) 1806 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Petersfield 1806–1807 With:Hylton Jolliffe | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Wareham 1807–1812 With:Sir Granby Thomas Calcraft 1807–1808 Sir Samuel Romilly 1808–1812 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forIlchester 1812–1818 With:George Philips | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBossiney 1819–1823 With:Sir Compton Domvile | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Foreign Secretary 1827–1828 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Earl of Dudley 1827–1833 | Extinct |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by | Viscount Dudley and Ward 1823–1833 | Extinct |
| Peerage of England | ||
| Preceded by | Baron Ward 1823–1833 | Succeeded by |
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