Mary Ward | |
|---|---|
 Mary Ward with her microscopec. 1860 | |
| Born | Mary King (1827-04-27)27 April 1827 Ballylin, County Offaly, Ireland |
| Died | 31 August 1869(1869-08-31) (aged 42) Parsonstown (current day Birr), County Offaly, Ireland |
| Resting place | Parsons Family Vault, Old St Brendan’s Church, Birr, County Offaly, Ireland |
| Other names | |
| Known for | [6][note 1] |
| Spouse | Henry Ward, 5th Viscount Bangor (m. 1854) |
| Children | 8, includingMaxwell Ward, 6th Viscount Bangor |
| Relatives | William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse (cousin) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | astronomy, entomology, microscopy |
| Patrons | Sir David Brewster, for whom she was an assistant and illustrator[1] |
MaryWard (néeKing; 27 April 1827 – 31 August 1869) was anIrish naturalist, astronomer, microscopist, author, and artist.[7] She was killed when she fell under the wheels of an experimentalsteam car built by her cousins. As the event occurred in 1869, she is the first person known to have beenkilled by a motor vehicle.[6][note 1]
She was born Mary King in Ballylin near present-dayFerbane, County Offaly, on 27 April 1827, the youngest child of the Reverend Henry King and his wife Harriette.[8] She and her sisters were educated at home, by a governess, as were most girls at the time. However, her education was slightly different from the norm because she was of a renowned scientific family. She was interested in nature from an early age, and by the time she was three years old she was collectinginsects.[9]
On 6 December 1854, she marriedHenry Ward ofCastle Ward, County Down, who in 1881 succeeded to the title of Viscount Bangor. They had three sons and five daughters, includingMaxwell Ward, 6th Viscount Bangor.[6]
Ward was a keen amateur astronomer, sharing this interest with her cousinWilliam Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse. Parsons built theLeviathan of Parsonstown, areflecting telescope with a six-foot mirror which remained the world's largest until 1917. Ward was a frequent visitor to Birr Castle, producing sketches of each stage of the process. Along with photographs made by Parson's wifeMary Rosse, Ward's sketches were used to aid in the restoration of the telescope.[10][11]
Ward also drew insects, and the astronomerJames South observed her doing so one day. She was using a magnifying glass to see the tiny details, and her drawing so impressed him that he immediately persuaded her father to buy her amicroscope. A compound microscope made by Andrew Ross (model 112) was purchased for £48 12s 8d.[12][13] This was the beginning of a lifelong passion. She began to read everything she could find aboutmicroscopy, and taught herself until she had an expert knowledge. She made her own slides from slivers of ivory, as glass was difficult to obtain, and prepared her own specimens. The physicistSir David Brewster asked her to make his microscope specimens, and used her drawings in many of his books and articles.[9]
Universities and most societies would not accept women, but Ward obtained information any way she could. She wrote frequently to scientists, asking them about papers they had published. During 1848, Parsons was made president of theRoyal Society. Parsons, to recall, was Ward's cousin and visits to his London home meant that she met many scientists.[9]
She was one of only three women on the mailing list for theRoyal Astronomical Society (the others wereQueen Victoria andMary Somerville, a scientist for whomSomerville College atOxford University was named).
When Ward wrote her first book,Sketches with the microscope (privately printed in 1857), she apparently believed that no one would print it because of her gender or lack of academic credentials. She published 250 copies of it privately, and several hundred handbills were distributed to advertise it. The printing sold during the next few weeks, and this was enough to make a London publisher take the risk and contract for future publication. The book was reprinted eight times between 1858 and 1880 asA World of Wonders Revealed by the Microscope. A new full-colour facsimile edition at €20 was published in September 2019 by the Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society, with accompanying essays. (ISBN 978-1-909822-14-6).
Her books are:A Windfall for the Microscope (1856),A World of Wonders, Revealed by the Microscope (1857),Entomology in Sport, and Entomology in Earnest (1857, with Lady Jane Mahon),Microscope Teachings (1864),Telescope Teachings (1859). She illustrated her books and articles herself, as well as many books and papers by other scientists.[9]
Ward is the first known automobile fatality. William Parsons' sons had built a steam-powered car,[note 2] and on 31 August 1869 she and her husband,Henry, were travelling in it with the Parsons boys (the Hons Richard Clere Parsons and the futuresteam turbine pioneerCharles Algernon Parsons) and their tutor, Richard Biggs. She was thrown from the car on a bend in the road atParsonstown (present-dayBirr, County Offaly).[14] She fell under its wheels and died almost instantly. A doctor who lived near the scene arrived within moments, and found her cut, bruised, and bleeding from the ears. The fatal injury was a broken neck.[6] It is believed that the grieving family destroyed the car after the crash.[12]
Ward's microscope, accessories, slides and books are on display in her husband's home,Castle Ward,County Down. William Parsons' home at Birr Castle, County Offaly, is also open to the public.[9] Her great-granddaughter is the English actress and authorLalla Ward.[15]
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