Jim Ward's Genealogy Pages

Summary of Ward BMD Information

From the book " Abstracts of Births, Marriages, and Deaths from the Perth Courier," compiled by Louise Hope. Years date from about 1860 to 1924.  My thanks go to a very kind Lanark County Genealogical Society (LCGS) member for finding this book in the Algonquin College Library, Perth branch!

Notes: PC = Perth Courier, D. = Died, Con =  Concession, a unit of land.

Words between the [  ] are mine.

1.  PC of Sept. 20, 1901
D.  Oldest resident of Drummond Twp., Mrs. Patrick Ward, died Wed. Sept.11, aged 98 yrs.,10 mos., nee Ann Keating. She was born in the Parish of Ballanavary, Co.Wexford, Ire. [should be townland of Ballinavary, Parish of Davistown], Dec. 1802, coming to Canada 1826. Husband died many yrs. ago...lived with 2 daus, Ann and Martha...Roman Catholic - to St John's Cem. [There is no marker at the site of the graves of Anne & Martha - the plot was registered to a "Miss Ward," presumably Martha, and doesn't indicate how many are actually buried there.]

2.  PC of May 22,1914
D.  Martha Ward - In 1st Con. Drummond, May 14, Martha Ward, aged 77 yrs. - was dau. of Mr./Mrs. Patrick Ward, natives of Ire.  Surviving are Miss Ann on the farm, John and James in Australia, Thomas in Langston Mich.  Another bro. Edward, left here many yrs. ago and now dec.  To St. John's Cem. [See above for burial info.]

3.  PC of March 23,1917
D.  At the home of her bro. F.K. Ward Langston [should be T.K.] on Tuesday Feb. 20, while on a visit, Miss Ann Ward. Born Perth Apr. 03, 1836, and lived 2nd Con Drum (should be 1st Con, Drummond). One of a family of 7 - Edward, James, Elizabeth and Martha, all dec.  John of Bendigo, Australia and Thomas. K, of Langston. Burial Maple Valley Cem. (Catholic).  (Greenville, Mich. Independent, Feb. 28).  [There is no marker at the gravesite.]

4. PC of Dec.8,1916
D. At Castlemaine, Oct. 4  (his birthday), James Keating Ward, an early arrival on Bendigo gold fields. Born at Perth Can. and was gr. nephew of the late Dr. Keating, Bishop of Ferns, Wexford.  Arrived in Victoria in 1852, surveyor. Interment Rheola Cem.  Was bro. of Miss Ward, 1st line, Drummond, now sole occupant of homestead. Another bro. Edward lived on homestead until he went west about 20 yrs. ago.  A sister died on farm 1-2 yrs ago.  From the Bendigo Advertiser, Victoria, Australia, April 14 [?].  Full text of the obit in the Perth Courier  was copied from microfilm & can be obtained in MS Word .doc file format by clicking here.  A page on the history of the Diocese of Ferns can be viewed here.

5. PC. of Sept.9, 1921
D. At Warburton, Victoria, Aust., May 23, John Ward, age 91. Born in Perth, Can. Aug 12,1830, son of P&A Ward, natives of Ire.  Bro. Thos. K. only surviving member of his family which included Elizabeth, Martha, Ann, Edward, James, John and Thos. age 87, who resides with dau. Mrs. Donovan on old Ward farm 1st Con. Drum. Left Perth 55 years ago for Mich.

Elizabeth Ward is a mystery. Previous info that she had married a Henry Tattum and moved to England was wrong.

Information from two cousins indicates that Patrick & Anne actually had 9 children, the last two being daughters who did not survive their childhood.  Margaret was born in 1842 when Anne was 39 and Sarah was born about 1847 when Anne was about 44.  I don't know how they died.

I recently received a death certificate for Thomas K. Ward from the Michigan Department of Health.  His death date was indeed 11 November 1922, but wasn't in Lansing, MI, as a previous reference named.  He died in his home in Langston.  According to the certificate, he died at 2pm of "Intestinal Stasis," and was buried 3 days later at Maple Valley Cemetery near Coral, MI, where his brother Edward, sister-in-law Mary, and sister Anne are buried.  His son, Fred, is listed on the certificate.  Intestinal Stasis, according to Paul Smith's Old Medical Terms Page, means a bowel obstruction of some sort.  It's a catch-all term that could include many causes such as cancer.  I have been to that cemetery many times to take care of G-Grandparents Edward & Mary's gravesite, but there are no headstones for either Thomas or Anne.

Notes:

John and James are buried in the same cemetery, although John did not die in Ballarat. 

Wife and children of James and some deaths: (Thanks for this info go to a kind Australian gentleman whose name I cannot find...sorry!)

Marriage and children of John Ward: 

Source:  Australian Vital Records Index

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