John Ward, 1st Viscount Dudley and Ward (6 March 1704 – 6 May 1774), known asJohn Ward until 1740 and as the6th Baron Ward from 1740 to 1763, was a British Tory politician who sat in theHouse of Commons from 1727 to 1734.
Ward was the son ofWilliam Ward and the grandson of the Hon. William Ward (d. 1714),[1] second son ofHumble Ward, 1st Baron Ward. His mother was Mary, daughter of the Hon. John Grey, younger son ofHenry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford. He inherited the Willingsworth estate and the rest of the manor ofSedgley on the death of his father in 1720, and theentailed portion of theDudley estates on the death of his cousinWilliam Ward, 5th Baron Ward in 1740.
He was returned to Parliament forNewcastle-under-Lyme in 1727, a seat he held until 1734. In 1740 he succeeded his second cousin as the sixth Baron Ward and entered theHouse of Lords. He was further honoured in 1763 when he was created1st Viscount Dudley and Ward, of Dudley in the County of Worcester.[2]
Ward married firstly Anna Maria, daughter of Charles Bourchier, in 1723. He married secondly Mary, daughter of John Carver, in 1745. There were children from both marriages. Ward died in May 1774, aged 70, and was succeeded by his son from his first marriage,John. His son from his second marriage,William (who succeeded in the viscountcy in 1788), was the father ofJohn Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley, Foreign Secretary from 1827 to 1828. Mary, Viscountess Dudley and Ward, survived her husband by eight years and died in 1782.
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forNewcastle-under-Lyme 1727–1734 With:Baptist Leveson-Gower | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| New creation | Viscount Dudley and Ward 1763–1774 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of England | ||
| Preceded by | Baron Ward 1740–1774 | Succeeded by |