WARD, John I

The obscure Ward was established at Dover by the mid 1430s. A Portsman since at least 1434, when he claimed exemption from the parliamentary subsidy on property in Newchurch hundred,3 E179/234/2. he was a constable of Single Ward in the following year.4 Egerton 2105, f. 38. By September 1439 he had joined the ranks of the jurats although gaps in the records probably hide the fact that he had already served in that capacity for some time, not least because he had attended a meeting of the Brodhull as one of Dover’s representatives the previous July.5 White and Black Bks. 11.

In October 1439 Ward was retuned to the Parliament summoned to meet on the following 12 Nov., and it was probably he who presented a petition to that assembly on behalf of his Port. In response to the petition, the Crown issued letters patent, dated 19 Feb. 1440, confirming Dover’s ancient franchises and especially their right to control the passage between Dover and Calais.6 CPR, 1441-6, pp. 392-3; Dover Chs. ed. Statham, 198-203. The close connexions between Dover and the Calais Pale raise the possibility that the MP was the John Ward granted the office of searcher of ships in the port of Calais on 18 Mar. 1441, a position he held until 1461. On the other hand, this John Ward was a yeoman of the Crown – and the MP is not known to have had any Household connexions – and the name was a common one: C76/123, m. 19; E101/196/2, f. 26; E403/739, m. 2. Along with his fellow baron in the Commons, Thomas Brown II*, he received wages for 90 days attendance, slightly longer than the parliamentary sessions which were held at Westminster and Reading and the time allowed for travelling. The sums due to Ward were not paid immediately, however, and his arrears were only finally settled in 1442.7 Add. 29810, ff. 29v, 44v.

Within months of returning from his first Parliament, Ward and other Portsmen accompanied the mayor, William Brewes*, to Canterbury where they met representatives of Dover’s member-port of Faversham.8 Ibid. f. 37. On 8 Sept. 1441 he himself was elected mayor, which office he held when returned to his second Parliament. It is unclear how long he and his fellow baron, Ralph Toke*, spent at this at this assembly: over the next two years, he received wages totalling £15 6s. 9d., although this sum included some arrears for his attendance at his previous Parliament.9 Ibid. ff. 44v, 50. On 10 Apr. 1442, following his return from the Parliament of that year, Ward attended a meeting of the Brodhull, doubtless to inform his fellow Portsmen of the business transacted at Westminster.10 White and Black Bks. 15. Re-elected to the mayoralty in the following September, he returned to the ranks of the jurats after relinquishing it to Brewes in 1443. He seems to have been particularly close to Brewes, who was his deputy mayor in 1441-2 and would name him as an executor.11 Add. 29810, f. 32v; C1/27/304.

In May 1445 Ward performed an extraordinary duty on behalf of the Port, attending the coronation of Margaret of Anjou in the company of three other Portsmen, Brewes, Toke and Richard Grygge*, a task for which each received expenses of 26s. 8d.12 Add. 29810, f. 61v. A few weeks previously, a ship he owned, the Bartholomew, had comprised part of the fleet which helped transport the new queen and her entourage to England.13 Add. 23938, ff. 18, 20. In the meantime, Ward continued regularly to attend meetings of the Brodhull – he would participate in 11 between July 1442 and July 1448 – and in 1447 he served as one of the Cinque Ports’ bailiffs at Yarmouth.14 White and Black Bks. 16-24. He is last recorded among the jurats in 1462-3,15 Add. 29616, f. 15. and it appears that his long career in the administration of the Port ended at some point in the mid 1460s.