The Ward Line: Kent to South Australia
My husband was born in Watford, Hertfordshire and grew up in and around Brighton, Sussex. He came to Australia when he was twelve-years-old together with his parents, David and Eileen Ward and his sister, Ann and brothers, Philip and Michael. Both David and Eileen left behind all of their family and friends to make a better life for their family on the other side of the world.
David’s family were originally from Kent in England. The Ward family liked trains. There are locomotive fitters, coach builders, railway carpenters, gangers and labourers, engine cleaners, even a night watchman for the railways, going back several generations. It is no wonder, my husband has loved trains his whole life.
Discovering my husband’s ancestry has been quite a different journey for me. Firstly, apart from his parents and siblings and a cousin I met once, I’ve not personally known anyone in his family. Secondly, most of my research has been done online through UK census records, birth, marriage and death records and some christening and burial records that have been transcribed.
I was lucky enough, however, to be able to correspond with both of his grandmothers in England in the 1980’s. And, true to my nature, I kept every letter I received from them both. They are now invaluable snippets of information that make their stories more than just names and dates.
I have also been very fortunate to have made contact over the last fifteen years or so with a number of people who have provided more family stories and photographs, along with names and dates and copies of certificates. Among them are Jean Jupp from the Genes Reunited website, my husband's second cousin, Jennifer Bellamy in Western Australia and most notably Jill Drummond from the West Midlands, England.
David’s family were originally from Kent in England. The Ward family liked trains. There are locomotive fitters, coach builders, railway carpenters, gangers and labourers, engine cleaners, even a night watchman for the railways, going back several generations. It is no wonder, my husband has loved trains his whole life.
Discovering my husband’s ancestry has been quite a different journey for me. Firstly, apart from his parents and siblings and a cousin I met once, I’ve not personally known anyone in his family. Secondly, most of my research has been done online through UK census records, birth, marriage and death records and some christening and burial records that have been transcribed.
I was lucky enough, however, to be able to correspond with both of his grandmothers in England in the 1980’s. And, true to my nature, I kept every letter I received from them both. They are now invaluable snippets of information that make their stories more than just names and dates.
I have also been very fortunate to have made contact over the last fifteen years or so with a number of people who have provided more family stories and photographs, along with names and dates and copies of certificates. Among them are Jean Jupp from the Genes Reunited website, my husband's second cousin, Jennifer Bellamy in Western Australia and most notably Jill Drummond from the West Midlands, England.