Doris (Dolly) Ward, daughter if Manasseh and Madeline

Doris Ward was born at Myee, Gertrude Street, Gosford in April 1894, the daughter of Manasseh Ward and Madeline Geary Henderson.  She was always known as Dolly within her family and ‘Aunty Doll’ by her nieces and nephews. 

She had three older sisters, Josephine 17, Madeline 15 and Amy four. She also had six older brothers, William 14, Robert 12, Roy six, Ephraim five, Eric three and Pat one. 

By her third birthday she had a baby brother, Bruce who would be the last child in the family. Her older sisters and Josephine and Madeline Jr had both married by this time and her brother William was apprenticed to a shipwright and living at Woy Woy.

Dolly’s mother, Madeline, received a steady income from a Trust established in her grandfather’s will, and this allowed the family to live comfortably. Like all the children, Dolly had a good education and was an active participant any many of the community activities in Gosford. As one of the younger children she was possibly indulged more than her older siblings had been. In May 1902 she wrote in to the ‘Dear Dame Durden’ column in the Town and Country Journal, describing a visit to Kiama for the Christmas Holidays.  

Dolly’s father, Manasseh Ward, was heavily involved in the local community. He was an alderman on the local council, sat as a Justice of the Peace on the local Court and was involved in almost every community organisation in the town. When Dolly was six months old, Manasseh was elected Mayor and went on to serve multiple terms as Mayor and later Shire President. He was mayor in 1902 when the Premier of NSW, Sir John See,  visited Gosford. The purpose of the trip was for the Premier’s wife, Lady See, to open the annual Flower Show. Six-year-old Dolly presented a basket of flowers to Lady See, an event that justified a sketch in the Sydney newspapers.

Dolly learned to play piano under Mr A. Lovell. In 1911, when she was 17, Dolly’s name is at the top of the list of students who had passed music examinations under the supervision of the London College of Music. She attained the ‘Associate London College of Music with honours'.  This was a significant qualification, just one level short of a Diploma and Dolly was entitled to use the letters ACLM after her name.

Like many of her siblings, she found it difficult to avoid being dragged into he father’s many community activities. One of these was the St John’s Ambulance Association. It seems that the girls were limited to obtaining first aid certificates and helping with entertainment and refreshments. Active participation in the volunteer ambulance squads was probably restricted to men! In 1915, a report about a meeting of the St John’s Ambulance in the Gosford paper shows Doris was awarded her third-year certificate.  Her father was the chairman of the committee and her older sister Amy also received a certificate. Around the same time, her brother Eric was becoming one of the first active members of the volunteer ambulance.

In 1920, Dolly married returned soldier, Frederick Pearce. The bride and groom were both 26. Fred had served with the Light Horse in World War 1 and saw active service in Egypt.

The young couple’s first home was in Concord. They lived for a time with Fred’s parents on a farm at Quakers Hill, then moved to Brighton-le-Sands. Fred worked as a clerk. They had four children born between 1921 and 1928. 

When war broke out in 1939, Fred enlisted again. He served out the second world war in Australia, working in the ordinance vehicles section of the army. By the end of the war he was a Warrant Officer. 

Dolly and Fred separated in the mid to late 1940s. Dolly moved to Exeter, to the south-west of Sydney where she lived on a farm with her daughter Joan. When Joan married in the early 1950s, Dolly went to live with her eldest daughter, Betty who was by that time married and living in Guildford. 

In the mid 1950s Dolly and Fred divorced. Fred would later remarry. He died in 1970.

In the early 1960s she made a final move, returning to the Central Coast where she lived out her days at Wamberal.

Dolly had plenty of company in Wamberal, it was something of a family enclave in the 1960s. Her sisters Madeline Lambert and Amy Ward were there, along with her nieces and nephews Marjory Jardine, Eric Lambert, Amy Michelsen, and Frank Ward. Frank was more like a little brother than a nephew, as he had been raised in the same home as Dolly. In the late 1970s they were all joined by Dolly’s son Geoffrey and his family, who lived next door.

Dolly died in January 1973 and was buried at St Paul’s Kincumber, alongside her father.