William Ward (bishop)

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Portal|Christianity}}{{Infobox Christian leader

| honorific-prefix = {{pre-nominal styles|RRevd}}

| name = William Ward

| children =

| parents =

| residence =

| religion = Anglican

| nationality =

| birth_place = Saintfield, Ireland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1838|01|26|1762|09|19|df=y}}

| successor = James Bowstead

| birth_date = {{birth date|1762|09|19|df=y}}

| predecessor = George Murray

| term = 1828–1838 (death)

| diocese = Diocese of Sodor and Man

| title = Bishop of Sodor and Man

| caption =

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|}}

| profession =

| spouse = Annie Hammersley (1805-1841)

}}William Ward (19 September 1762 – 26 January 1838) was an Anglican clergyman who served in the Church of England as the Bishop of Sodor and Man from 1828 to 1838.{{cite book |editor1-last=Fryde |editor1-first=E. B. |editor2-last=Greenway |editor2-first=D. E. |editor3-last=Porter |editor3-first=S. |editor4-last=Roy |editor4-first=I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology |edition=3rd, reprinted 2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1986 |page=274 |isbn=0-521-56350-X}}

Born in Saintfield, near Belfast on 19 September 1761, Ward was ordained in the Anglican ministry as a deacon in 1788 and a priest in 1789.{{cite web |url=http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/people/bishops/bowstead.htm |title=William Ward - Bishop 1827-1838 |work=A Manx Note Book: People |publisher=Isle of Man.com |access-date=6 June 2012}} In 1805, he married Anne Hammersley (died 1841), and they had two sons and five daughters.

Ward was nominated Bishop of Sodor and Man by King George IV on 3 January 1828 and received royal assent on 28 January 1828.{{Cite book |last1=Horn |first1=J. M. |last2=Smith |first2=D. M. |last3=Mussett |first3=P. |year=2004 |chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=35885 |chapter=Bishops of Sodor and Man |title=Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857: Volume 11: Carlisle, Chester, Durham, Manchester, Ripon, and Sodor and Man Dioceses |publisher=British History Online |pages=141–146}} He was consecrated on 9 March 1828 and enthroned on 27 October 1828.

Ward died in office on 26 January 1838, aged 75, and was buried in Great Horkesley, Essex.