Name
Fred Ward (MC)
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
08/12/1917
33
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Captain
London Regiment *1
2nd/19th (County of London) Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Military Cross, Mentioned in Despatches
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
JERUSALEM WAR CEMETERY
U. 117
Israel and Palestine (including Gaza)
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Bushey Town Memorial, St James’ Church Memorial, Bushey, St Pancras Church, London
Pre War
Born on 25 December 1883 and baptised at St Pancras on 10 February 1884, Fred Ward (baptised as Fred) was the son of Charles and Hannah (nee Baldwin) Ward. The baptism record recorded their address as 19 Burton Street in St Pancras, London and Charles’ profession as an Artist’s Colourman. Charles and Hannah were married in the first quarter of 1872 in the registration district on Wandsworth. They had ten children, five of whom died in childhood.
At the 1891 census, Fred (incorrectly recorded as Frederick) was seven years old and living with his parents and three siblings at 11 Burton Street in St Pancras. Charles and Hannah were aged 40 and 42 years respectively and Charles was employed as a colourman grinder. Fred’s siblings were 16-year-old Charles (a telegraph manager), 10-year-old Jane and one year old Arthur. Birthplaces for the family were given as St Giles in London for Charles (Snr.), Astbury in Cheshire for Hannah and St Pancras for all the children.
Fred’s father and uncle both worked as artists’ colour grinders for James Newman, Artists’ Colourer of 24 Soho Square. Newman’s, established in the late 18th century, ground colours by hand and supplied a wide range of materials to many famous artists. In 1914 they made ‘useful new shades in Hand-made Tinted Paper for Water Colour Painting'. Fred also worked for James Newman as a colour man’s assistant and in 1901 was employed by the British Museum.
At the 1901 census, the family had moved to 12 Burton Street, St Pancras. Charles (Snr.) was now foreman for artists colourman, Fred was employed at the British Museum and Jane was a Milliner’s Machinist. Fred’s older brother, Charles, was no longer present, but he then had two younger brothers, 11-year-old Arthur and 8-year-old Edwin. Also present was his Charles’ 80-year-old father-in-law, William Baldwin, who had been born in Ware, Hertfordshire.
Fred married Lilian Hendley on 22 April 1905 at the Parish Chapel in St Pancras. He was 21 years old and employed as a salesman, and Lilian was 24 years old. Their addresses were given as 12 Burton Street for Fred and 7 Euston Street for Lilian. At the 1911 census they were living at 8 Burton Street and Fred was employed as a Artists Colourman’s Assistant. They had two children; 3 year old Doris Beatrice and 3 month old Ena Lilian who, like Fred and Lilian, had both been born in St Pancras. Also present was Lilian’s mother, an 80-year-old widow who had been born in Freshwater on the Isle of Wight. Meanwhile, Fred’s parents were still living at 12 Burton Street with their sons Arthur and Edwin, who were both working as junior clerks, and 4 year old granddaughter Winifred Kirkham.
Between the 1911 census and 1915, Fred and his family moved to Hertfordshire and settled at 56 Glencoe Road in Bushey. Their address is confirmed in the 1915 Peacock’s Directory. Perhaps Fred had been attracted to Bushey by the colony of artists living there and saw opportunities for retail trade.
Wartime Service
The military records for Fred Ward show that he enlisted initially with the 9th London Regiment and became a Company Sergeant Major number 3281. He later transferred to the 2nd/19th London Regiment and rose to the rank of Captain. He was awarded the Military Cross and was Mentioned in Despatches. He was killed in action in Palestine on 8 December 1917, aged 33, and was buried in the Jerusalem War Cemetery, grave reference U117. Fred is also commemorated on the Bushey Memorial on Clay Hill, at St James’ Parish Church and at St Pancras Church in London.
Diane Livesey, the great niece of Captain Fred Ward, took his military details and photograph to the Bushey WW1 exhibition ‘A Village Remembers’, held in August 2014, and confirmed that Fred was the F Ward named on the the Bushey Memorial and at St James’ Church and had been living 56 Glencoe Road in Bushey in 1915. The gravestone for Fred has a personal inscription which reads: “EVER IN OUR THOUGHTS DEAREST LILIAN”.
Lilian Ward subsequently left Bushey and settled with her children at 105, Weston Park in Hornsey, London N8.
A letter written by Fred Ward about a fellow officer is referenced on at least two websites, including that for 'hellfirecorner'. The original source was not confirmed for the current research but was possibly an article in the Jewish Chronicle of the time. The letter was from Captain Fred Ward to the mother of Glasgow-born Lt Edwin Schonfield of the 2/19th London Regiment, a Jewish soldier under his command, who was killed on 2 September 1916, aged 26.
“I have had your boy with me for three months now. He is a terrible loss to me. My respect for him I cannot express, his cool enduring courage, his personal example and his ever-cheerful disposition, were to us such a blessing and an asset, we can never replace him. Mr. Harris of my company [probably 2nd Lt George Harris] has gone out to see him buried and make the best arrangements possible to fulfil the requirements of your religious faith. Mr. Harris is a Jewish soldier and a good fellow. I immediately wrote to the Jewish Chaplain of the Forces to officiate: fortunately he was in a town about five miles away. I have instructed Mr. Harris to do all he thinks you would require, also to arrange for a suitable tablet to be erected so that you will be able to make later arrangements. Pray, tell me if there is anything I can do for you, I am at your service. I cannot do too much for him, he has done so much for me. As one example of his unselfishness, he was good enough to allow me, though his junior, to supersede him. He then asked to come into my company.”
Additional Information
*1 Believed more correctly, (County of London) Bn. London Regiment (St Pancras).
Acknowledgments
Andrew Palmer
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
