John William Ward, Earl of Dudley

The trustees of John William Ward, Earl of Dudley (including Henry Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter) were awarded compensation for the enslaved people on 3 estates, Whitney and Rymesbury in Clarendon and New Yarmouth in Vere, all in Jamaica.   

1. Son of William Ward, 3rd Viscount Dudley & Ward and Julia Bosvile, educ. Edinburgh 1797-8, Oriel Oxford 1799 (B.A. Corpus 1802), unmarried, succeeded father as 4th Viscount April 1823, created Earl of Dudley 05/10/1827. Politician and statesman, MP 1802-1823, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 1827-1828. Much of his wealth flowed from his inheritance in Worcestershire and Staffordshire, with extensive coal mines, said to generate an income of £120,000. The Jamaican estates had come to him from his paternal grandmother (Mary Lady Viscountess Dudley and Ward, née Carver, q.v.). He left £350,000 in personalty. His estate passed to his cousin, whose son William Ward (1817-1885) was created 1st Earl of Dudley of the second creation in 1860 and left £1,026,000 in personalty.

2. Ward was a student of Dugald Stewart (1753-1828, Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of Edinburgh, 1785-1810) during the session 1797/8. He also lived with the Stewarts while he was a student, and was a life-long correspondent with the poet, Helen D'Arcy Stewart (nee Cranstoun, 1765-1838). Dugald Stewart critiqued slavery and the slave trade and slavery in the majority of his lectures. Ward was connected to Granville Sharp and other abolitionists in London, and as a Member of Parliament for Wareham, spoke for the abolition of the slave trade. He promoted amelioration, rather than the complete abolition, of slavery, stating in 1826 that, 'Whatever might be the defects of the West-India system, it did not exhibit that uniform picture of relentless cruelty on the one side, and of despairing misery on the other.'

3. Boyle's 1835 shows John Benbow as of 1 Stone-buildings, Lincoln's Inn (p. 257) with W. Yeates Alban and J.H. Benbow jun. The Earl of Dudley died at his house in Park Lane aged 52 [1833].

4. Trustees of Earl of Dudley closed their accounts yesterday, allowing 21 days until 27th of March Lord Ward's birthday, for the final adjustments. ..'from the 6th of March, all coal, stone or any other material, will be sold by Lord Ward. This is in accordance with the late Earl's will, so, in point of fact, Lord Ward is now in possession of his vast estates.'

5. In a codicil letter attached to the will of Lord Dudley and dated 21/09/1831, the executors are bequeathed large amounts of money, including: “item, to John Benbow Esq. of Lincolns Inn, five thousand pounds. Item, to Francis Downing Esq, of Dudley four thousand pounds. Item to Henry Lord Bishop of Exeter two thousand pounds.” Lord Dudley's will was mired in controversy, according to the Staffordshire Advertiser: “The fashionable world and the long robe are busily discussing his Lordship’s last will and testament... The whole subject engages the most lively discussion, and it reported that the validity of the will is disputed...The will, by some of its very extraordinary bequests, is, we are told, calculated to excite much tittle-tattle, and scandalous interpretation.” This was followed by a slew of court cases as to the validity of the will.

We are grateful to Onni Gust and Ash Sohoye for their assistance with compiling this entry.

T71/859 Clarendon nos. 284 and 320; T71/857 Vere no. 70.

T71/962 Vere no. 70: letter 14/09/1835 from solicitors (Alban & Benbow) for the trustees and executors of late Earl of Dudley, enclosing extract from will of Earl of Dudley. Begs compensation to be awarded to Phil[l]potts etc. the executors and trustees. Hibbert Oates had made claim on the part of the Heirs of the Earl of Dudley instead of the Trustees: 'we presume as they are uncontested this mistake is unimportant.'

1. R. G. Thorne, 'Ward, Hon. John William (1781-1833) of Himley Hall, Staffs.', History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820: William D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? A biographical dictionary of British wealth-holders Volume One 1809-1839 (London, Social Affairs Unit, 2009) reference 1833/17.

2. Email from Onni Gust, 08/09/2018 sourced to: Samuel Henry Romilly (ed), Letters to Ivy from the first Earl of Dudley (1905) esp. pp. 321-322; Ward's contribution to the abolition debate on Hansard online, https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/1826-03-07/debates/8e980163-59a2-415e-a199-b9fc14c7d937/AbolitionOfSlavery [accessed 25/10/2018]; lecture notes of J Lee Eden, Edinburgh University Archives, Dc8.143.

3. Boyle's Directory 1835 p. 257. Times 07/03/1833 p. 7.

4. Times 11/03/1845 p. 6.

5. Staffordshire Advertiser, 23/03/1833. C 13/2037/60; C14/516/E45; C 14/1231/E16. Email from Ash Sohoye 13/07/2024. For a full discussion of the will's validity, see Ash Sohoye, "Did the Bishop of Exeter Henry Phillpotts and fellow “trustees / executors” forge the will of Lord Dudley?" (published online, 2024).