Madeline Ward jnr

Madeline and Robert Lambert

Madeline Hannah Ward was born at Toorigal House, Kincumber in July 1878, the eldest daughter of Manasseh Ward and Madeline Geary Henderson. 

 Madeline grew up at Kincumber, before the family moved to Balmain for a year when she was about eight years old. The family moved to Gosford one year later. 

In 1898 Madeline married Irish immigrant Robert Lambert in Gosford. Madeline was 19 and Robert was 30. The wedding was held on the same day that the SS Maitland was wrecked at what is now known as Maitland Bay. 

Robert Lambert worked as a clerk with the NSW Railways. The couple lived in Gosford at first, but by 1902 they were living in Sydney.  They remained in Sydney, for almost 30 years, living at Campsie, St Peters and Marrickville. 

Madeline and Robert had five children born between 1898 and 1912.

Robert retired in the early 1930s and they moved to Wamberal where they lived out the remainder of their lives.

Madeline’s nieces and nephews remembered her as a kind and warm-hearted woman who was loved dearly by her family. 

Robert died at Wamberal in 1955, aged 87. Madeline died in 1967 aged 88. She was survived by all five of her children and four of her siblings.