Born: 27 April 1827, Ireland
Died: 31 August 1869
Country most active: Ireland
Also known as: Mary King
This biography is republished from The Dictionary of Irish Biography and was written by Éadaoin Agnew. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
Ward, Mary (née King) (1827–69), microscopist, astronomer, artist and author, was born on 27 April 1827 to the Rev. Henry King, landowner, and Harriette (née Lloyd) at Ballylin, Ferbane, Co. Offaly. She was the youngest of their four children, alongside John Gilbert (1822–1901), Jane (1823/6–95) and Harriett (1823/6–96). Ward was first cousin to William Parsons, 3rd earl of Rosse (son of Harriette’s sister Alice), a notable astronomer and president of the Royal Society (1848–54). These familial relationships proved formative as Mary developed her scientific interests from a young age.
Mary and her two sisters were educated at home, in accordance with nineteenth-century gender norms. However, in addition to providing a stereotypically feminine curriculum via a governess, their parents encouraged an interest in astronomy and natural history. Mary, in particular, demonstrated an aptitude for these scientific disciplines. Consequently, when she turned eighteen her father bought her a microscope from Andrew Ross, one of the leading microscope-makers of London. Mary used this instrument to make drawings and paintings of specimens, and she frequently presented these as microscopical shows to family, friends and estate workers. The visual representations were evidently skilled and accurate, and she received much encouragement from distinguished scientific professionals who visited the family home at Ballylin and Lord Rosse at his nearby home of Birr Castle.
Among the notable visitors to Ballylin was Scottish scientist and author, Sir David Brewster (1781–1868). He recognised Mary’s talents and sent her specimens to mount for microscopical examination; he later used her illustrations to accompany some of his published articles in Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He also obtained books for her to study and sent her copies of his own works.
During her teenage years, Ward spent a lot of time with her cousin William and his wife, also Mary (née Field, 1813–85). This close friendship meant that Ward was often at Birr during the construction of Lord Rosse’s enormous telescope, nicknamed the ‘Leviathan’. Completed in 1845, the instrument was fifty-eight feet long with a six-foot diameter mirror; when completed it was the largest telescope in the world. Mary was therefore privileged to be one of the first to make observations from it and illustrations of it; the latter appear, along with a drawing of Newton’s telescope, in Brewster’s Memoirs of the life, writings and discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton (1855). This inclusion was a significant validation of Mary’s technical abilities at a time when it was difficult for women to obtain expertise and recognition beyond the domestic sphere.
In 1854 Ward married Henry William Crosbie Ward (1828–1911), second son of Edward Ward, viscount Bangor, of Castle Ward, Co. Down. Henry’s elder brother Edward had inherited the title and the estates, yet Henry resigned from his army commission soon after the marriage and never again assumed regular employment. This caused increasing financial difficulties for their growing family. The couple had eight children, from eleven pregnancies, between 1855 and 1867.
Remarkably, however, in addition to her duties as wife and mother, Ward wrote several books and a scientific article on natterjack toads in Ireland. Her first book-length study, A windfall for the microscope (1856), was privately printed and distributed to family and friends. This was followed by Sketches with the microscope (1857), a collection of letters about and illustrations of common objects suitable for microscopic examination. Ward initially commissioned a local printer in Parsonstown to produce 250 copies of the manuscript. When these proved popular, a relative took a copy of the text to the London publisher Groombridge and Sons, who reissued it under the title A world of wonders revealed by the microscope (1858). In 1864 this was extensively revised and expanded into Microscope teachings, a companion volume to Telescope teachings (1859), later published as The microscope and The telescope (both 1869). Mary also produced, in collaboration with her sister, Lady Jane Mahon, Entomology in sport; and entomology in earnest (1859), a playful and instructive volume that was dedicated to their mother. These various publications were favourably received due to their relaxed yet informative style, conversational tone, and the quality of Mary’s illustrations.
Mary aimed her writing at amateur scientists, young readers and other women. She also positioned her work within traditional Christian values, using religious rhetoric to balance academic knowledge; she frequently reiterated that her scientific studies of the natural world ultimately revealed the wonders of God’s work. As such, she took care not to encroach upon the male-dominated domain of professional science. Mary was only too aware of nineteenth-century gender constraints: as a woman she could not gain membership of professional scientific bodies. Yet, notably, Sir William Rowan Hamilton requested that the Royal Astronomical Society include her on its list of eminent people and institutions entitled to receive its monthly notices. Ward was one of only three women to achieve this honour, holding rather esteemed company with Queen Victoria (1819–1901) and Mary Somerville (1780–1872). In further recognition of her work, she was allowed entry to Greenwich Observatory, despite their strict rule against admitting women.
Ward’s life and work ended prematurely when, while visiting Birr Castle on 31 August 1869, she was killed in an accident, falling from a steam-powered road locomotive designed by Lord Rosse. She is thought to have been the first person killed in an automobile accident in Ireland. Ward is commemorated by plaques mounted in her name at Birr Castle and at the Mary Ward Centre, Ferbane. At Castle Ward there is also a room dedicated to Ward’s memory, with many of her books and her microscope on display. Along with Mary Rosse, she is the subject of a documentary and a play, both of which focus on the ways in which she negotiated the difficult role of women in nineteenth-century science and contributed to the popularisation of natural history.