Background
George Gray Ward was born at Great Hadham, Hertfordshire, England, the eldest of seven children of Benjamin and Esther (Gray) Ward.
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Report of the Scientific Work of the Surgical Staff of the Woman's Hospital in the State of New York, 1919, Vol. 2 (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from Report of the Scientific Work of the Surgica...)
Excerpt from Report of the Scientific Work of the Surgical Staff of the Woman's Hospital in the State of New York, 1919, Vol. 2 During the past year a change in the organization of the work of the Woman's Hospital has been inaugurated in accordance with the wishes of the Board of Governors. They have declared for a sys tem of unification of the service with a central control, believing that better results will be accomplished in the more thorough study and care of the patients and in the utilization of the large amount of material that is available for making contributions to medical science, by coordinated efforts under direction rather than by several independent services as formerly. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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George Gray Ward
Edit ProfileEducation
His early education was obtained in a private school at Cambridge, to which his parents had removed.
Career
Fascinated by the telegraph instrument, he obtained permission, when but six years of age, to visit the local telegraph office at the railroad station, and within a year he had become a proficient telegrapher. At eleven he left school, entered the service of the Electric Telegraph Company, and quickly mastered what knowledge was then available of theoretical telegraphy. Eager for wider experience, he joined in 1865 the Egyptian telegraphic service and was stationed at Alexandria for three years. In a cholera epidemic that visited the city, he and two or three others were the only telegraphers to stay on duty in order to maintain communication with the outside world. His services were especially acknowledged by the Viceroy, Ishmael Pasha. In 1869 he joined the French Atlantic cable company and was appointed chief operator at St. Pierre and Miquelon. During the laying of the cable to St. Pierre, he was one of six telegraphers selected for the electrical staff on board the steamship Great Eastern. At St. Pierre he remained until 1875, when failing health forced a return to England. The year 1875 marked the end of his active career as a telegrapher; from that time his services were essentially those of an engineer, promoter, and executive. Within a few years he assumed a leading position among cable executives and maintained it for almost forty years. Shortly after his return to England, he accepted the position of general superintendent in the United States of the Direct United States Cable Company then being organized under the direction of Lawrence Oliphant. In cooperation with Oliphant, he built stations and cable lines and made arrangements for an interchange of traffic with other lines. The efficiency of the new company was so evident that the Anglo-American proposed a pool in which the Western Union Telegraph Company later joined. When the pool broke up in 1883 he assumed charge of the interests of both the Direct and of the French companies. When James Gordon Bennett and John William Mackay decided to break the power of the Western Union by establishing a new cable company, in 1884, they offered Ward the general managership of the newly organized Commercial Cable Company. In 1890 he became vice-president and held both positions until his death, as well as gradually assuming directorships in subordinate and affiliated companies. Under his direction at least five cables were thrown across the Atlantic, while he was primarily responsible for the diplomatic and engineering aspects of the work that resulted in the first cable across the Pacific - laid to Honolulu in 1902, Manila in 1903, and to China and Japan in 1906. He also laid the cable between the United States and Cuba. In laying the Pacific cable, he planted colonists on the Midway Islands. International recognition for his services came in decorations presented by both the German and Japanese emperors. He died in New York City and was buried from the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, of which he had been vestryman and warden.
Achievements
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So efficient was his work that he not only broke the existing monopoly of the Anglo-American Telegraph Company but also reduced the charges for cable services and cut by two-thirds the time necessary to receive a reply. The Commercial Cable Company was largely his creation, made possible by his aggressive leadership, practical experience, and tactful personality.
Works
book
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Report of the Scientific Work of the Surgical Staff of the Woman's Hospital in the State of New York, 1919, Vol. 2 (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from Report of the Scientific Work of the Surgica...)
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Report of the Scientific Work of the Surgical Staff of the Woman's Hospital in the State of New York, 1919, Vol. 2 (Classic Reprint)
Connections
In 1867 he married at Cambridge, England, Marianne, the daughter of William Smith. She died in 1918, leaving three children.
