View source for Robert Plumer Ward

{{short description|British politician}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2024}}
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[[File:Robert Plumer Ward Turner.jpg|thumb|Robert Plumer Ward]]
'''Robert Plumer Ward''' (born '''Robert Ward'''; 19 March 1765 – 13 August 1846<ref name="rayment-cockermouth">{{cite web
 | url   = http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Ccommons5.htm
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090810231328/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Ccommons5.htm
 | archive-date = 10 August 2009
 | title = House of Commons constituencies beginning with "C" (part 5)
 | work  = Leigh Rayment's House of Commons pages
 | url-status = usurped
 | accessdate = 5 May 2009
}}</ref>) was an English barrister, politician, and novelist. [[George Canning]] said that his law books were as pleasant as novels, and his novels as dull as law books.<ref name=DNB>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Ward, Robert Plumer}}</ref>

==Life==
He was born in Mount Street, [[Mayfair]], [[London]], on 19 March 1765, the son of John Ward by his wife Rebecca Raphael. His father was a merchant in [[Gibraltar]] and, also for many years, was chief clerk to the civil department of the ordnance in the garrison there. His mother belonged to a [[Sephardic Jewish]] family from [[Genoa]].<ref>[[William D. Rubinstein]], Michael Jolles, [[Hilary L. Rubinstein]], ''The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History'', Palgrave Macmillan (2011), p. 760</ref> Robert Ward was educated first at [[Robert Macfarlane (schoolmaster)|Robert Macfarlane]]'s private school at [[Walthamstow]], and then at [[Westminster School]]. He entered [[Christ Church, Oxford]], matriculating on 12 February 1783. In 1785 he became a student of the [[Inner Temple]].<ref name=DNB/>
[[File:RobertPlumerWard.jpg|right|thumbnail|Robert Plumer Ward as a young man]]
Ward then passed some years abroad, and travelled in France during the early part of the revolutionary period. He was [[called to the bar]] on 17 June 1790, and soon after went the western circuit.<ref name=DNB/> In London in 1794, a chance conversation in Bell Yard near [[Fleet Street]] put him in possession of information about subversion, and Ward took it to [[Richard Ford (East Grinstead MP)|Richard Ford]], who was a police magistrate. Ford took Ward directly to [[William Pitt the Younger|William Pitt]] the Prime Minister, and the law officers [[Sir Archibald Macdonald, 1st Baronet|Archibald Macdonald]] and [[John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon|John Scott]]. This fortuitous discovery gave Ward his political and legal contacts.<ref name=Phipps>[[Edmund Phipps]], ''Memoirs of the Political and Literary Life of Robert Plumer Ward'' vol. 1 (1850), pp. 12–15 and note; [https://archive.org/stream/memoirspolitica03phipgoog#page/n29/mode/2up archive.org].</ref>

Ward now switched from the western to the northern circuit, to take advantage of his new connections. He had also a small common-law practice in London and before the privy council. He wrote another legal work to order, for the government. A reward in the shape of a judgeship in [[Nova Scotia]] was offered Ward; then in June 1802, he received from Pitt an offer of a safe seat in the House of Commons. Ward was Member of Parliament (MP) for [[Cockermouth (UK Parliament constituency)|Cockermouth]] from 1802 to 1806,<ref name="rayment-cockermouth" /> after Pitt had recommended him to [[William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale|Lord Lowther]] for the seat. He was returned on 8 July 1802, but did not speak in the house till 13 December, when, somewhat to the annoyance of his friends, he supported [[Henry Addington]].<ref name=DNB/>

Pitt returned to power in summer 1804. [[Henry Phipps, 3rd Baron Mulgrave|Lord Mulgrave]] succeeded [[Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby|Lord Harrowby]] at the Foreign Office at the beginning of 1805, and gave Ward (a family connection through their wives) the post of [[Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs|under-secretary]], Ward resigning a sinecure post he held as Welsh judge. [[Charles James Fox]] took over from Mulgrave in 1806, and Ward lost the post, taken up by [[George Hammond (diplomat)|George Hammond]].<ref>[[Robert Beatson]], ''A Political Index to the Histories of Great Britain & Ireland'' vol. 1 (1806), p. 409; [https://books.google.com/books?id=0SbDvoYXiK8C&pg=PA409 Google Books].</ref> On the formation of the [[William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland|Duke of Portland]]'s ministry of 1807, with the appointment of Mulgrave as [[First Lord of the Admiralty]], Ward was given a seat on the Admiralty board.<ref name=DNB/>

Ward was MP for [[Haslemere (UK Parliament constituency)|Haslemere]] from 1807 to 1823.<ref name="rayment-haslemere">{{cite web  | url   = http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Hcommons2.htm  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090810231405/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Hcommons2.htm  | archive-date = 10 August 2009  | title = House of Commons constituencies beginning with "H" (part 2)  | work  = Leigh Rayment's House of Commons pages  | url-status = usurped  | accessdate = 5 May 2009 }}</ref> Turning down an offer of a [[Lord of the Treasury|Treasury lordship]], Ward remained at the Admiralty till June 1811, when he was appointed [[Clerk of the Ordnance]]. He served in this office under Mulgrave, who was head of the department, till 1823. He made a lengthy report on the state of the ordnance department in Ireland, which was published on 9 November 1816. The following year he made a survey of the eastern and southern coast of England for the same purpose, and in 1819 for the north of England. Retiring from the Commons after the session of 1823, he was appointed auditor of the [[Civil List]].<ref name=DNB/>

Ward owned [[Hyde House (Buckinghamshire)|Hyde House]] near [[Hyde Heath]] in Buckinghamshire, in the early 19th&nbsp;century. In 1811, he anticipated the dismissal of the government in the wake of the passing of the [[Regency Act]], and looked forward to "...being at Hyde House in a fortnight. My garden, farm, plantations and library are the prevailing ideas, and every purchase I have lately made, whether books or pruning-knives are all with a view to my long wished retreat."<ref name="GiffordColeridge1850">{{cite book|author1=William Gifford|author2=Sir John Taylor Coleridge|author3=John Gibson Lockhart|author4=Whitwell Elwin, William Macpherson, Sir William Smith, Sir John Murray IV, Rowland Edmund Prothero Baron Ernle, George Walter Prothero|title=The Quarterly Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oBDC6VqXOF0C&pg=PA260|year=1850|publisher=John Murray|page=260}}</ref> Ward retired as a widower to Hyde House in 1823 to write his novel ''Trentaine, or The Man of Refinement''.<ref name="Patmore1854">{{cite book|author=Peter George Patmore|title=R. Plumer Ward (cont.) Horace and James Smith. William Hazlitt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=inchQfyzax8C&pg=PA358|year=1854|publisher=Saunders and Otley|page=358}}</ref>

He was married for a second time in 1828 to Jane Plumer, the widow and heiress of [[William Plumer (1736–1822)]], adopted the additional name of Plumer and took up residence at [[Gilston]] Park, Hertfordshire, which his wife had inherited from her late husband.<ref name=DNB/> In 1832 he was appointed [[High Sheriff of Hertfordshire|High Sheriff]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=18900|pages=254–255|date=6 February 1832}}</ref> His office as auditor of the Civil List was incorporated into the treasury in January 1831, and, again a widower, he spent time abroad.

He was married for a third time in 1833 to Mary, the daughter of [[George Anson (British Army officer, born 1769)|General Sir George Anson]]. In 1845, the couple were living at 2 [[Brook Street, London|Upper Brook Street]], [[Mayfair]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Upper Brook Street: North Side Pages 200-210 Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings). Originally published by London County Council, London, 1980. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol40/pt2/pp200-210 |website=British History Online |accessdate=12 July 2020}}</ref> Early in 1846 he moved with his wife to the official residence of her father, who was the governor of [[Chelsea Hospital]], and died there on 13 August the same year. There is a portrait of Ward by [[Henry Perronet Briggs]], an engraving of which by [[Charles Turner (engraver)|Charles Turner]] is prefixed to his ''Memoirs''.<ref name=DNB/>

==Works==
He wrote non-fiction and fiction, with some books on [[international law]].

* {{cite book |title= An Enquiry into the Foundation and History of the Law of Nations in Europe from the Time of the Greeks and Romans to the Age of Grotius  |year= 1795 |place= London  |publisher= Printed by A. Strahan and W. Woodfall for J. Butterworth |url=https://archive.org/details/enquiryintofound12ward/page/n4 |accessdate= 22 February 2019 |volume= I |via= Internet Archive}}  This has been regarded as the first attempt to write a [[history of international law]].<ref>M. Fitzmaurice, Maria Vogiatzi, ''Time, History and International Law'' (2007), p. 27; [https://books.google.com/books?id=0w-ufigE4nUC&pg=PA27 Google Books].</ref> It was at the suggestion of [[William Scott, 1st Baron Stowell|William Scott]].<ref name=Phipps/>
* ''A Treatise of the relative Rights and Duties of Belligerents and Neutral Powers in Maritime Affairs, in which the Principles of the armed Neutralities and the Opinions of Hübner and Schlegel are fully discussed'' (1801). This work related to the [[Second League of Armed Neutrality]] 1800–1 and was undertaken at [[William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville|Lord Grenville]]'s request, as Foreign Secretary, to represent the rights of belligerents from the British point of view.<ref name=DNB/> It was not published in complete form, and in an introduction to an 1875 reprint, [[Henry Stanley, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley]] commented on the extremely low subsequent profile of the work.<ref>''A treatise of the relative rights and duties of belligerent and neutral powers in maritime affairs; in which the principles of armed neutralities and the opinion of Hubner and Schlegel are fully discussed'' (1875); [https://archive.org/details/cu31924005230705 archive.org].</ref>
* ''An Essay on Contraband; being a Continuation of the Treatise of the relative Rights and Duties'' (1801).
* ''A View of the relative Situations of Mr. Pitt and Mr. Addington previous to and on the night of Mr. Patten's Motion'' (1804) was Ward's (anonymous) involvement in early 1804 in a pamphlet war, on Pitt's side against supporters of the Addington Ministry. It had been set off by ''A Few Cursory Remarks upon the State of Parties'' (1803, anonymous, by Thomas Richard Bentley). [[Henry Addington]] was probably not involved, but [[Hiley Addington]] and [[Charles Bragge]] quite likely were; on Pitt's side [[Thomas Courtenay (British politician)|Thomas Courtenay]] was used to reply, but Ward involved himself on his own initiative.<ref>[[John Ehrman]], ''The Younger Pitt: The consuming struggle'' (1996), p. 622 note 1.</ref> There was a reply from [[John Adolphus]].<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Adolphus, John (1768-1845)}}</ref>
* ''An Enquiry into the Manner in which the different Wars of Europe have commenced during the last two Centuries'' (1804 or 1805). This work defended the seizure of a Spanish treasure-ship (6 October 1804); and was read and approved by Pitt before publication.<ref name=DNB/>
* ''Tremaine; or, the Man of Refinement'' (1825), novel.
* ''De Vere; or, the Man of Independence'' (1827), novel. In it George Canning is supposedly depicted under the character of Wentworth.
* ''Illustrations of Human Life'', 1837; 2nd edit. 1843. ''Saint Lawrence'' in this work is based on a true story, from [[Joseph Hunter (antiquarian)|Joseph Hunter]], ''A True Account of the Alienation and Recovery of the Estates of the Offleys of Norton'' (1754).<ref name=DNB/>
* ''An Historical Essay on the real Character and Amount of the Precedent of the Revolution of 1688'', 1838, 2 vols. When this work was badly reviewed in the ''[[Edinburgh Review]]'' and styled a Tory pamphlet in the guise of history, Ward answered the reviewer in an anonymous pamphlet entitled ''The Reviewer Reviewed''
* ''Pictures of the World at Home and Abroad'', 1839, 3 vols.
* ''An Historical Essay on the Real Character and Amount of the Precedent of the Revolution of 1688'' (1838)
* ''De Clifford; or, the Constant Man'' (1841), novel.

''Memoirs of the Political and Literary Life of Robert Plumer Ward'' appeared in 1850, edited by [[Edmund Phipps]]. Selections from Ward's unpublished works are contained in vol. ii. of the ''Memoir''; they are short essays on different subjects under the title of ''The Day Dreamer''. The published portion of Ward's ''Diary'' extends from 1809 (when he began it) to 22 November 1820; the remaining portion was not published because the editor regarded it (in 1850) as too recent. Its historical value is that Ward was on intimate terms with [[Spencer Perceval]].<ref name=DNB/>

Many of his letters to [[Peter George Patmore]], who advised in literary matters, are in Patmore's ''Friends and Acquaintances''. Ward edited ''Chatsworth, or the Romance of a Week'', a number of tales by Patmore.<ref name=DNB/>

==Family==
Ward married three times.<ref>John Burke, ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland'' (1836), p. 71; [https://books.google.com/books?id=U_CvyAF3ko4C&pg=PA71 Google Books].</ref>

#His first marriage, on 2 April 1796, was to Catherine Julia, the fourth daughter of Christopher Thompson Maling of Durham. By it, Ward became acquainted with [[Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave]], who had married the eldest daughter.<ref name=DNB/> [[Henry George Ward]], their son, was a diplomat, politician, and travel author.<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Ward, Henry George}}</ref>
#On 16 July 1828 Ward married, secondly, Mrs. Plumer Lewin of [[Gilston Park]], Hertfordshire, and on this occasion took the surname of Plumer in addition to Ward. She died in 1831.<ref name=DNB/> Her first husband had been the MP [[William Plumer (1736–1822)|William Plumer]], who died in 1822.<ref>[http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/ward-robert-1765-1846 historyofparliamentonline.org, ''Ward, Robert (1765–1846), of 48 Lincoln's Inn Fields, Mdx.'']</ref> She then married Captain Richard John Lewin R.N., brother of [[Harriet Grote]], in 1825; he died in 1827. On her death in 1833, the fortune she had from William Plumer passed to Henry George Ward, her stepson.<ref>[[Harriet Grote]], ''The Personal Life of George Grote'' (1873), p. 44 note; [https://archive.org/stream/personallifegeo00grotgoog#page/n68/mode/2up archive.org].</ref>
#He married, thirdly, in 1833, Mary Anne, the rich widow of Charles Gregory Okeover. She was the daughter of [[George Anson (British Army general)|General Sir George Anson]] and the sister of [[Talavera Vernon Anson|Admiral Talavera Anson]].<ref name=DNB/>

Ward was the grandfather of the judge [[Dudley Ward (judge)|Dudley Ward]]; the uncle by marriage of his biographer [[Edmund Phipps]], and the great-uncle of the theologian [[William George Ward]].

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Library resources box}}
*{{hansard-contribs | mr-robert-ward-1 | Robert Ward }}

;Attribution
{{DNB|wstitle=Ward, Robert Plumer}}

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{{succession box
 | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Cockermouth (UK Parliament constituency)|Cockermouth]]
 | years  = 1802–1806
 | with   = [[Sir James Graham, 1st Baronet, of Kirkstall|James Graham]]
 | before = [[Walter Spencer-Stanhope (1749–1822)|Walter Spencer Stanhope]]<br />[[John Baynes Garforth]]
 | after  = [[Sir James Graham, 1st Baronet, of Kirkstall|James Graham]]<br />[[George Stewart, 8th Earl of Galloway|Viscount Garlies]]
}}
{{succession box
 | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Haslemere (UK Parliament constituency)|Haslemere]]
 | years  = 1807–1823
 | with   = [[Charles Long, 1st Baron Farnborough|Charles Long]]
 | before = [[George Stewart, 8th Earl of Galloway|Viscount Garlies]]<br />[[Charles Long, 1st Baron Farnborough|Charles Long]]
 | after  = [[George Lowther Thompson]]<br />[[Charles Long, 1st Baron Farnborough|Charles Long]]
}}
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{{succession box | title=[[Clerk of the Ordnance]] | before=[[Cropley Ashley-Cooper, 6th Earl of Shaftesbury|Cropley Ashley-Cooper]] | after=[[Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge|Sir Henry Hardinge]] | years=1811–1823}}
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{{succession box | before=Thomas Robert Dimsdale | title=[[High Sheriff of Hertfordshire]] | years=1832 | after=George Jacob Bosanquet}}
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{{A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature}}

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