William Ward, Mariner

When William Ward Married Catherine Mitchell in 1837, William gave his calling as 'Master Mariner' and his place of abode as 'Near the Heads'. How William transformed himself from a chimney sweep and convict labourer into a Master Mariner in a period of 12 years will probably remain a mystery, but there is no doubt in my mind that William's maritime ventures were an important part of his business success.

At least one researcher has assumed that 'Near the Heads' meant that William lived aboard a ship, but it is more likely that it was a shortened form of 'Near the heads of Brisbane Water', that is Killcare.

But there can be no confusion that 'Master Mariner' implies that William was in charge of at least one ship. In her book about the ship builders of Brisbane Water, Gwen Dundon says that most Master Mariners were indentured to a recognised master before being examined by a group of ship's captains. I cannot imagine that William had the time or resources to undertake a lengthy apprenticeship, but it seems to me that some of the early settlers took the title informally, because they were captaining ships.

Joan Taylor quotes Mrs Ethel Ward, wife of Pat Ward (Manasseh's son Laurence Ward was always known as Pat) saying that William owned vessels named Jane, Sophia Jane, Traveller, Traveller’s Bride and The Little Traveller.  I have not been able to find any other mentions of these vessels, except for Traveller's Bride.

Gwen Dundon confirms that William owned Traveller's Bride, a 30-ton cutter. She also records William Ward as the owner of Midshipman, a 26-ton ketch. Both of these vessels were built at Brisbane Water in 1840 and 1851 respectively. Two lists of vessels belonging in Sydney also have William Ward as the owner of Matilda, an 18-ton cutter built at Pitt Town in 1842.

I also spotted a 17-ton cutter named Magnet, built at Brisbane Water and registered to Ephraim Mitchell  Ward, William's son. This was built in 1847 and is listed in the 1849 list of Sydney vessels, with the owner as 'E.M. Ward) This is a puzzle, because Ephraim was only born in 1847! I suspect that this was another of William's ships and he registered it under his infant son's name for some reason.

There is no doubt that William Captained his ships on a regular basis. The Shipping columns in the Sydney papers routinely listed the 'Coasters' arriving and departing from Sydney and they often show the size, master and cargo. The voyages of the Matilda, Midshipman and Magnet all show the master as 'Ward' at some point, but he also employed other men to Captain his ships. He was shown as the Master of the Matilda on many voyages in 1843 and 1844, so he was probably a full-time Mariner at that time. He resumes command for multiple voyages in 1847.

William was the master of the Magnet on her first voyage in 1848, but then seems to have handed over to other Captains. That pattern in repeated for the Midshipman in 1851.

William's ships serve the coastal trade including from Brisbane Water, the Hawkesbury, Newcastle, Paterson and possibly also Wollongong and the south coast. In the early 1840's the cargo includes agricultural produce and building materials. Produce included maize, wheat, potatoes, and wool. Building materials included sawn timber (hardwood and cedar), shingles, posts, laths, palings and shell (used for making lime). By the end of the 1940's the most common cargo is coal.

Joan Taylor said that William's trading extended to Norfolk Island and that he returned with Norfolk Island pine seedlings. Some of these were planted near Dr. Paul’s residence in Gosford and became a landmark for many years. I have not been able to find further evidence of the Norfolk Island voyages, and this would have required a greater degree of navigation skill than the limited coastal trade.

Two interesting resources I found this week:

• The Shipbulders of Brisbane Water NSW by Gwen Dundon, self-published in1994. This is a high quality book, well written and easy to use. It is well indexed and gives details of the individual vessels, their builders and owners. The book also includes several pages of memories provided by Allen Ward (son of Pat and great-granson of William). This book was among my late mother's books.
• In the Old Days – Reminiscences of Brisbane Water District by William Ward's son Ephraim, writing as ‘Bora Bora’. This was published in the Woy Woy Herald in 1922. The copy I have was re-published in the Gosford Times (link to copy on Trove), but I am not confident that it is a full reprint and it may be missing some important parts of the story. I have also loaded a text version of the article on my website - see wardkemp.com look under resource documents for 1922-ward-ephraim-memories.