Richard Ward (governor)

Richard Ward
22nd Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
In office 1741–1742
Preceded by	John Wanton
Succeeded by	William Greene
25th Deputy Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
In office 1740–1740
Governor	John Wanton
Preceded by	Daniel Abbott
Succeeded by	William Greene
29th Attorney General of Rhode Island
In office 1712–1713
Governor	Samuel Cranston
Preceded by	Simon Smith
Succeeded by	John Hammett
Personal details
Born	April 15, 1689 Newport, Rhode Island
Died	August 21, 1763 Newport, Rhode Island
Resting place	Common Burying Ground, Newport
Spouse(s)	Mary Tillinghast
Occupation	Attorney General, Deputy and Clerk of Assembly, General Recorder, Secretary of State, Deputy Governor, Governor
Signature

Richard Ward (April 15, 1689 – August 21, 1763) ^[1] was a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving for one complete term from 1741 to 1742.

Life and career

Ward was born in Newport, Rhode Island. He was the son of Thomas Ward and Amey Billings of Newport, and grandson of John Ward who had come from Gloucester, England. His father was a merchant who held many positions in the town government, and his grandfather had been an officer in Cromwell's Army who came to the American colonies following the accession of King Charles II of England.^[2]

Ward was made a freeman of Newport in 1710, then entered public service as Attorney General, later became Deputy and Clerk of the Assembly, and then served as the General Recorder for the colony from 1714 to 1730.^[1] In 1723 he was paid six pounds for attending the trial of a group of pirates who were taken prisoner by Captain Solgar, commander of the British ship Greyhound. Of the 36 pirates taken into captivity, 26 were sentenced to hang, and the execution took place at Newport on July 19, 1723 at a place called Gravelly Point.^[1]

In 1726, Ward was one of the four Rhode Island commissioners appointed to meet a group of Connecticut commissioners to settle the boundary line between the two colonies.^[1] Ward was the Secretary of State from 1730 to 1733, and in 1740 became the Deputy Governor of the colony. In this capacity he and Samuel Perry were appointed trustees to the Indian sachem Ninigret. In 1741 he was selected as Governor for a single term.^[1]

In 1709 Ward married Mary Tillinghast (1689 - 1767), the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Sayles) Tillinghast, and granddaughter of Pardon Tillinghast who had come from Seven Cliffs, Sussex, England. The couple had 14 children, the ninth of whom was Samuel Ward who would later become a governor of the colony and a delegate to the Continental Congress. Two other children, Thomas and Henry, both served lengthy terms as Secretary of the Colony.^[3] Richard Ward's older sister Mary married Sion Arnold, a grandson of Governor Benedict Arnold.^[1]

Ward is buried under a brick vault in the Common Burying Ground in Newport, and his son Samuel, after first being buried in Philadelphia, was re-interred next to him.

See also

• List of colonial governors of Rhode Island
• List of lieutenant governors of Rhode Island
• Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

References

Bibliography

• Austin, John Osborne (1887). Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island. Albany, New York: J. Munsell's Sons. ISBN 978-0-8063-0006-1. 
• Peterson, Edward (1853). History of Rhode Island. J. S. Taylor. p. 144. Retrieved June 26, 2010. 

Further reading

• American Historical Company (New York, N.Y.) (1965). Colonial and revolutionary lineages of America: a collection of genealogical studies, completely documented, and appropriately illustrated, bearing upon notable early American lines and their collateral connections. The American Historical Company, inc. p. 284. 
• Hurst, Judith A. (1990). Sayles country II: a supplement to Volume I with additional descendants of John and Mary (Williams) Sayles of Providence, Rhode Island. Gateway Press. p. 112. 

External links

• Grave of Richard Ward at Find-a-grave
• Chronological list of Rhode Island leaders

Colonial Governors of Rhode Island
Judges of Portsmouth (1638–40)	Coddington Hutchinson
Judge of Newport (1639–40)	Coddington
Governor of Newport and Portsmouth (1640–47)	Coddington
Chief Officer (Providence and Warwick) (1644–47)	Williams
Presidents of Rhode Island (Patent of 1644) (1647–63)	Coggeshall J. Clarke Smith N. Easton Gorton Smith Dexter N. Easton Williams Arnold Brenton Arnold
Governors of Newport and Portsmouth (Coddington Commission) (1651–54)	Coddington J. Sanford
Governors of Rhode Island (Royal Charter of 1663) (1663–86)	Arnold Brenton Arnold N. Easton Coddington W. Clarke Arnold Coddington J. Cranston P. Sanford Coddington Jr. Bull W. Clarke
Governors under Dominion of New England (1686–89)	Dudley Andros
Governors of Rhode Island (Royal Charter of 1663) (1690–1776)	Bull J. Easton Carr W. Clarke S. Cranston Jenckes W. Wanton John Wanton R. Ward Greene G. Wanton Greene G. Wanton Greene Hopkins Greene Hopkins S. Ward Hopkins S. Ward Hopkins Lyndon Joseph Wanton Cooke
Italics Gorton, Smith and Dexter were presidents of Providence and Warwick only, since Coddington had received a commission to remove Newport and Portsmouth from their jurisdiction, valid from 1651 to 1654; before and after these dates the President presided over all four towns of the colony. Dudley presided over the "Narragansett Country" only, later to become Washington County, Rhode Island; Andros subsequently presided over the entire colony.