John Ward Sr. and Margaret Henrietta Berry

Not many men are alive today who remember the accession of the late Queen Victoria to the throne of England, but among these is John Ward, who was then living in London.

Not only does Mr. Ward remember the event, but also he heard the bells of St. Paul's church, London, toll the announcement of the death of the Duke of Kent, uncle of Queen Victoria. When Victoria came to the throne of England she was a girl of 17. Mr. Ward remembers her marriage to the price consort, her coronation a year after her accession, the birth of the princess royal, who afterward became wife of Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia, and the birth of the Prince of Wales, now King Edward VII of England. He believes Victoria was one of the greatest rulers in Europe.

Mr. Ward was born in Battersea Field, Surrey, the part of London made famous in the writing of Charles Dickens, the novelist. During his life in the metropolis, Mr. Ward saw Sir Robert Peel and his great opponent, Daniel O'Connell, the Irish emancipator, whom he heard speak for the repeal of the corn laws. He also heard Richard Cobden, the father of free trade in England, and John Bright on the same campaign.

He heard Rev. Theobald Mathew, the great Irish apostle of temperance, speak on London's east side, in the worst slums of the great city, and saw thousands take the pledge from the priest, who was afterward given a pension by Queen Victoria. He walked often from London's east side to hear Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon, the distinguished divine, preach Sundays, and in the afternoon attended a debating club.

Mr. Ward possesses a retentive memory and though he was never inside a school house, as a pupil, has educated himself since coming to the years of manhood, so that he can read and write. He is an interesting talker and has an abundance of anecdotes and stories of his boyhood days in the great English capital.

He was born Jan. 1, 1829, and lived at home until he was 11 years old. His father was Abel Ward and his mother Arabella Austin. He had two brothers, John and David, and three sisters, Martha, Harriet and Elizabeth. His father was a dairyman and he worked on his milk walk, carrying tow cans of milk with a yoke over his shoulders. Each can contained 32 quarts of milk. When, 11 years old, his mother died, and shortly after he resolved to run away to America. He did not have a penny when he left home, but sold his clothes and walked 208 miles to Liverpool, hoping to get a job aboard an American liner. He was unsuccessful in this, and did all kinds of jobs to earn a living, and at the time he was married was working for a hardware manufacturer.

He was married in the parish church of the parish of Christ, Middlesex, according to the rites of the Established Church of England, by Rev. G.C.G. Moller, to Margaret Berry, Aug. 28, 1853. Mr. Ward was then described as 24 years old and a bachelor, and Miss Berry as a spinster, 22 years old. Nine children was born to Mr. And Mrs. Ward and of these three are now alive: Lisa, wife of Walter Currie, which whom Mr. Ward made his home, has five daughters. Ethel, May Ella, Grace, and Jean: Martha, wife of L. H. Rivet of the Canadian Northwest, is mother of four children,

David, Martha, Kenneth and Cecil. David is married, but has no children. John, a son, who died four years ago, left five more grandchildren for Mr. Ward" Minnie, John, Lawrence, Robert and David. They also live in the Canadian Northwest.

In those days there ware no schools supported by the government, and it cost a lot for a poor man to educate his sons. There were schools, but each pupil had to pay from six-pence to a shilling a week to the schoolmaster. That is how he got his living.

When he was a boy he remembered hearing the bell of St. Paul's church toll at the death of the Duke of Kent. He was uncle to Princess Victoria. That was in 1837. She was proclaimed queen in June, 1837, and he walked that day from Battersea through Lambeth and over Westminster bridge, into Parliament street, and thence on to Charing Cross, where his mother paid the rent for their place. That was a great day in London. Everyone in the city appeared to be out, and the people were joyous and happy at the accession to the throne of the young princess. She was not crowned that year, as she was only 17 years of age. She was crowned the following year and there was another great demonstration. In February, 1840, she was married to the prince consort and the following November their first child was born, the princess royal. Edward, the present king, was born Nov. 9^th, 1841, and there was great rejoicing throughout England.

At the time of Crimean war, he remembered hearing the older men reading of the events in the papers. That was an unpopular war and more men died of starvation and exposure than were killed in battle. Once event made a great impression on him because of the interest it aroused.

At the siege of Sebastopol, when the British troops were making a charge, the color bearer of one of the regiments ran into an ambuscade of six Russian soldiers. The regimental colors were taken from him as the men were hurled back. A corporal named QUinn, broke from the ranks, as he saw the colors taken, and, recovering them, he also captured tow of the Russian soldiers and drove them back with the regiment. All England sounded with praise of his valor at the time.

The civil War in America brought great suffering in England, especially in Manchester and other cities in the cotton districts. The man Mr. Ward worked for called his employees together and told them he was sending a check to help feed the men in Manchester who were thrown out of work. Each of the men used to send a few pennies to the starving people in Manchester each week with the money from their employer.

Among the great men he had seen and heard speak was Fr. Mathew. He was the first man he ever heard speck on temperance. He first heard him on Kensington common, now a park, and then at Darby street and Rosemary lane, on London's east side and among the lowest of the low. He was a wonderfully eloquent and pleasing speaker. There was something enticing about him, and thousands took the pledge from him. The people of London received him with enthusiasm. He took a penny from each person to whom he gave the pledge, and returned to them a medal.

Mr. Ward had often seen Sir Robert Peel in London, although he never heard him speak. He heard Gladstone but did not think much of his policy.

Daniel O'Connell conducted a great campaign in London for the repeal of the corn laws. He was associated in this with John Bright and Richard Cobden. It surprised him to see O'Connell associated with Bright and Cobden, when their views on other political matters were so much different. O'Connell was a daring speaker and a man of commanding presence. He remembered his telling them in parliament that they had never made or could never make a law that he could not drive a coach and four through. In the campaign for the repeal of the com laws, he rode all around London in a carriage drawn by 36 horses.

The repeal of the duties on grain brought down the price of bread for the poor people, and was popular for this reason. He remembered as a boy going to a baker for a four-pound loaf of bread, for his father, and paying a shilling, all but a penny, for it. Bread was never as high after the repeal of the com laws, which was the beginning of the free trade policy in England.

He came to Montreal, May 9, 1870, going to Pakenham, province of Ontario, and live there a year. He then went to Almonte, where he lived 35 years, and came to Worcester, Aug. 8, 1905. He had worked as a stonemason and a plasterer.

He was a member of Hope Congregational church, and attended service when the weather would permit. He took a deep interest in passing events and also the work of the Congregational brotherhood, of which he was a member.