suc. grandfa. 3 Aug. 1701 (a minor) as 8th Bar. DUDLEY and 3rd Bar. WARD
Never sat.
bap. 20 Dec. 1683, o. s. and h. of William Ward (d.1692) and Frances, da. of William Dilke of Maxstoke Castle, Warws. educ. Rugby 1695; Magdalen, Oxf. matric. 1702. m. 9 Apr. 1703, Diana, da. and h. of Thomas Howard‡ of Ashtead, Surr. 1s. d. 28 Mar. 1704; will 19 Jan., pr. 29 Mar. 1704 and 10 July 1718.1
Associated with: Himley, Staffs.
Edward Ward never took his seat in the House; he died in March 1704 at the age of only twenty. His only involvement in the life of the House of Lords related to the possibility of a jurisdictional clash between the English House of Lords and its counterpart in Ireland arising from a continuing dispute with Edward Brabazon, 4th earl of Meath [I]. Politicians on both sides of the Irish Sea were anxious to defuse the issue and worked successfully to do so.2 Fuller details of this case are given in the biography of Ward’s grandfather, also named Edward Ward, 7th Baron Dudley.
Dudley’s political allegiances are unclear but he was on close terms with John Somers, Baron Somers. In his will he named Somers as co-trustee (with his mother-in-law, Lady Diana Howard) of his wife’s affairs until she came of age. He died of smallpox on 28 Mar. 1704, leaving his wife (and executrix) heavily pregnant.3 He was buried on 5 Apr. 1704 at the family seat of Himley. His son, Edward Ward, 9th Baron Dudley, was born three months later.
B.A./R.P.