Background
John Ward was born on 28 December 1798, a son of a master mariner, Abraham Ward, also a painter and his wife Sarah (nee Clark).
John Ward was born on 28 December 1798, a son of a master mariner, Abraham Ward, also a painter and his wife Sarah (nee Clark).
John received an education and was apprenticed as a house painter to Thomas Meggitt.
He has been described as "the leading marine artist and ship portrait painter in Hull during the first half of the 19th century". By 1826, Ward was listed in the local Hull Directory as a "House and Ship Painter". Ward married Esther Leonard (born 1800 in Solihull, Warwickshire) on 18 April 1825 in Holy Trinity Church, Hull.
They had four daughters.
He was initiated as a Freemason. He was influenced by the artist William Anderson. copying some of them before establishing his own style.
Ward exhibited several paintings in 1827 at the Hull and East Riding Institute for the Promotion of the Fine Arts. He subsequently produced small watercolour paintings and some larger oil paintings, of local maritime and shipping scenes.
He also exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1840 and 1847 and at the British Institution between 1843 and 1847.
He made many engravings of his own works. Ward died on 28 September 1849 from cholera. lieutenant was not until 1883 that his importance was recognized when the local press briefly described his life.
Gallery
In June 2009, one of Ward"s paintings, "Schooners Ellen Crawford and Dwina" (1843), was stolen from Hull Maritime Museum.
At his trial, the Crown Court judge described the painting as "part of the heritage of the city of Hull, building on its reputation and art links with the maritime world".