Amy Ward, daughter of Manasseh and Madeline

Amy Ward, Red Cross volunteer, farewelling
soldiers who had been fed a meal at Gosford
Railway Station. The Red Cross girls fed thousands
of men who passed through on troop trains.

Amy Gertrude Ward was born at Ettna Street Gosford in September 1889, the ninth child of Manasseh Ward and Madeline Geary Henderson.  She had two older sisters, Josephine 13 and Madeline jnr 11. She had four older brothers, William nine, Robert seven, Roy two and Ephraim one. Another three brothers had died in infancy.

Amy was two when her family moved to their new home in Gertrude Street Gosford. The house was called Myee and was set on two acres of land. This would remain her home for the next 40 years.

Amy’s father was a prominent man in the Gosford community. He was an alderman on the local Council when Amy was born and would go on to serve as Mayor and Shire President for much of her childhood. He was also involved in many community organisations and Amy was encouraged to become involved in many, including the Agricultural and Horticultural Association, St John’s Ambulance and the Gosford Social and Patriotic Society.

When it came to education, Amy was sent away to a private school in Sydney. She later told her niece, Joan Taylor (nee Pearce) that there was a lot of teasing at the local school, mainly over some of the Henderson relations who were living at Woy Woy. Both Amy and her older brother Ephraim were sent to private schools.

Amy’s older sisters Josephine and Madeline married in 1896 and 1898 respectively, so at age nine, Amy found herself the oldest daughter in the household. This probably came with responsibilities in helping with the three younger children. She never married and became dedicated to looking after her parents. 

The Ward home in Gertrude Street Gosford was always the centre of family life. Many of Amy’s siblings lived at Myee until they married, and some returned to live for periods when circumstances required. When Amy turned 21 in 1910 the household included her parents, Manasseh aged 59 and Madeline 55, and her siblings Roy 23, Eric 20, Pat 18, Dolly (Doris) 15 and Bruce 14. Her older bothers Bill and Robert were also living nearby with their families at Maidens Brush and Manns Road respectively.

Amy’s brother, Ephraim Ward, was living at Junee in 1912 when his wife died leaving him with two young children. Ephraim’s work commitments with NSW Railways prevented him for caring for the children and they came to live at Myee with their grandparents. Amy was still living at home and probably took an active role in raising her niece Nell (Ellen) and nephew Frank.

Throughout the war years of 1914–1918, Amy volunteered with the Red Cross and the Patriotic Society. She organised fundraising and patriotic functions, dispatched comfort parcels to the troops at the front, and help provide meals for the thousands of travelling soldiers who passed through Gosford by train. She sometimes sent reports to the paper passing on news that she received in letters from the soldiers, including her brother Bruce who was serving with the Light Horse in the middle-east campaign.

Amy was still living at home when her father died in 1923. She was 33. Nell aged 13 and Frank 12 were also living there, with her mother, Madeline, now 68. While Roy, Eric and Pat had all moved from Myee, they were living close by and were in daily contact. Dolly and Bruce had both married and moved to Sydney.

Amy’s nephew Laurie Ward later recalled that Amy was always at hand when help was needed. He remembered one occasion in the mid-1920s when he was a small boy and vanished from their home in Dwyer Street just across the road from Myee. He had managed to to find his father (Eric) where he was working (his intention all along). Amy arrived in her Ford car to retrieve him. He was reluctant to go home, but Amy quickly changed his mind with the assistance of a whippy branch applied to his ankles!
Amy gradually assumed management of the Myee household as her mother aged. In the last years before she died in 1936, Madeline Ward rarely left her bedroom. 

Amy had an easy manner with people and a natural charm that some say was a characteristic of her family. She could also be strong and forthright when she thought it necessary and was not afraid to put her siblings straight if she thought they had stepped out of line. 

She was an early adopter of many new technologies, even when faced with resistance from her mother. She had electricity and the telephone connected to the home at Myee soon after they became available in Gosford. But her mother would switch off the electric lights and do her needlework by lamp-light and refused flatly to use the telephone. She would not even allow the telephone in the house, so it was installed on the verandah.

In an age when cars were still a novelty and mostly driven by men, Amy was one of the very few women who not only owned and drove her own car but drove it quite successfully in competition with the local men. She competed in trials and rallies, as well as hill-climb races where cars were timed over a set course. In the 1930 Terrigal hill climb, Amy was one of two women to compete, and both set very competitive times. Amy in her Ford sedan was placed third in her class with a time only one second slower than the winner. 

After her mother died, Amy had a house built at Wamberal.  She lived there for the rest of her life. She worked as a housekeeper.

During the second World War Amy volunteered as a ‘Coastwatcher’, which involved keeping watch on one of the local headlands and reporting all ship sightings.

Joan Taylor was Amy’s niece and goddaughter and loved her dearly. She remembered that she was always made welcome any time she visited.

Amy died in 1970, aged 80. She was survived by her sister Dolly (Doris) and her brothers Ephraim and Bruce. She is buried beside her father at St Paul’s Anglican Church at Kincumber.