WARD, John (1670-1749), of Capesthorne, Cheshire and the Inner Temple.

A leading Hanoverian Tory, Ward was returned for Thetford in 1715 on the interest of Sir Thomas Hanmer, over whom he had great influence.1HMC Portland, vii. 181. On 9 Apr. 1715 he seconded Stanhope’s motion for appointing a committee to inquire into the conduct of the late ministry, declaring that ‘though his principle was that Kings can do no wrong, yet he was of opinion, that ministers were accountable for their maladministration’.2Chandler, vi. 18. In June, however, he opposed the impeachments of Ormonde and Stratford and the contention that the charge against Oxford in the 11th article of the secret committee’s report amounted to treason. He was one of the chief speakers for the Opposition in the debates on the septennial bill and the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts. In 1721 he supported Walpole’s motion that John Aislabie should be allowed to keep everything he possessed before 1719. He did not stand in 1722, devoting himself entirely to his legal career until his death, 17 Mar. 1749.