Michael Edward Ward
{{EngvarB|date=January 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Michael Edward Ward
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = 1845,
| birth_place = Ballinasloe
| death_date = 27 May 1921
| death_place = Melbourne
| burial_date = 28 May 1921
| burial_place = Melbourne General Cemetery
| spouse =
| spouse 1 = Ellen McDonald (m. 1882)
| spouse 2 = Margaret Mary Aiken (m. 1902)
| issue = Charles Hayes Ward (1896–1977)
| father = John Ward
| mother = Mary Caulfield
| religion = Roman Catholic
| signature =
}}
Michael Edward Ward (1845 – 27 May 1921) was an Irish-Australian detective,{{Cite web|url=http://prov.vic.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/ned-kelly/the-kelly-story/jerilderie/to-the-acp-from-detective-michael-ward-re-interview-with-jack-sherritt|title = Online galleries and exhibitions | PROV}} best known for his role in the capture of Ned Kelly and his brother Dan Kelly during the Kelly Outbreak of 1879/1880.{{cite news |title=Harbouring the Kellys |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18801209.2.24 |access-date=June 9, 2024 |work=Auckland Star |issue=3241|volume=XI|publisher=Papers Past |date=9 December 1880|page=3}}
Early and Family life
Ward was born the second son to John Ward, a large farmer, in Kidlawn (a townland in the parish of Moore) near Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland in about 1845. He had at least two other brothers; Peter and James. In 1865 at the age of 20, Ward emigrated from Liverpool to Melbourne on board the Marco Polo.Ancestry.com. Tasmania, Australia, Passenger Arrivals, 1829–1957
By 1869, he had settled in the Benalla/Beechworth area where he remained for about 11 years. In 1880, he moved to Melbourne where he met his first wife, Ellen "Nellie" McDonald, whom he married in 1882.Ancestry.com. Australia Marriage Index, 1788–1950 Registration Number 5337 Ellen died in 1890 at the age of thirty of a pelvic abscess. Twelve years later, Ward married Margaret Mary Aiken, a native of Benalla with whom he lived until his death in 1921. The couple adopted Charles Eustace Hayes, an English orphan born in Blackpool in about 1912. Hayes had his name changed by deed poll on 12 March 1920 to Charles Hayes WardThe Argus (15 March 1920)
Career
Michael E. Ward joined the police force in October 1869 and was stationed at Benalla and Beechworth. In 1876, he was promoted to the rank of detective.
In this position he was instrumental in the capture of members of the Kelly gang.{{cite book|author1=Brendon Kelson|author2=John McQuilton|title=Kelly Country: A Photographic Journey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FsQCiab3z2IC&pg=PA112|year=2001|publisher=Univ. of Queensland Press|isbn=978-0-7022-3273-2|pages=112–}}{{cite book|author=Ian Jones|title=Ned Kelly: A Short Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3401AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT163|date=1 November 2010|publisher=Hachette Australia|isbn=978-0-7336-2579-4|pages=163–}} A number of books have been written about the efforts of Ward and his colleagues to capture these outlaws.{{cite book|author=Evan McHugh|title=The Bushrangers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xaFkzUzr3qwC&pg=PT368|date=27 July 2011|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-0-85796-296-6|pages=368–}}{{cite book|author=Max Brown|title=Max Brown's Ned Kelly: Australian Son|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbhWAAAAYAAJ|year=1948|publisher=Angus & Robertson|isbn=978-0-207-14229-1}} News reports as far away as England kept the public up to date on the chase.[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000452/18800917/037/0004 "A Victim of the Kelly Gang"]. Edinburgh Evening News - Friday 17 September 1880, page 4. (via British Newspaper Archives, subscription required) Ward's persistent pursuit frustrated Kelly, who sent death threats to the detective.[http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZH18800817.2.36THE GLENROWAN AFFAIR.]. The New Zealand Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 5850, 17 August 1880, Page 6 Eventually Ward devised a trap which involved considerable trickery and misdirection; Kelly later accused him of threatening to harm his family.[http://www.australianculture.org/the-cameron-letter-ned-kelly-1878/ "The Cameron letter by Ned Kelly, 1878]. The Institute of Australian Culture, 23 October 2012
Ward's experiences were the basis for a character in Rolph Bolderwood's romantic crime fiction work. Robbery Under Arms.[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000057/18981217/030/0025 "Mysteries of Police and Crime"]. The Graphic – Saturday 17 December 1898. page 25. (via British Newspaper Archives, subscription required)
Following the Kelly Outbreak, Ward was transferred to Melbourne[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000287/18950530/040/0003 "An Australian Claimant's strange story"]. Shields Daily Gazette – Thursday 30 May 1895 page 3. via British Newspaper Archives, (subscription required) in 1880, where he served until his retirement, having reached the rank of Sub-Inspector, in 1905.Albury Banner and Wodonga Express (3 Jun 1921) Ward's career was distinguished not only for his role in the capture of the Kellys{{cite book|author=John Neylon Molony|title=Ned Kelly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WhczfF4KdawC&pg=PA94|year=2001|publisher=Melbourne University Publish|isbn=978-0-522-85013-0|pages=94–}} but also many other high-profile arrests such as that of Ferozi Fathay Mahommed in 1904The Argus (15 Sep 1904)
References
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{{Ned Kelly}}
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