Wards of Edwinstowe – a pioneering Methodist family in Australia

In 1699, weavers Samuel Ward and Richard Denton appear in Edwinstowe Manor Court Rolls in relation to the Will of William Silverton Vicar. Some years later, when weaver George Woolley died in October 1715, Samuel Ward’s son, Samuel, and John Smith, both weavers, were beneficiaries as was John Penn Vicar of Edwinstowe for all the trouble I have caused him 10 shillings. (What had George done?) We also have the 1707 Will of weaver Susannah Tudsbury witnessed by Richard Denton – a witness to many Wills in the 70 years between 1693-1763 when Samuel Ward died.
Entering St Mary’s church, facing you is a fine monument to James Ward from Nottingham who died aged 85 in 1798, and several other members of the Rigley and Ward families. James and his wife Mary are buried in a railed vault in the churchyard close to Church Street. Beside them is the grave of George Ward who died 1st January 1765 aged 46 years. To date, it’s not been possible to find a connection between these families and the William Ward (b.1746) who was leader of the Edwinstowe Primitive.

Methodists in the early 19th century.
Before they built a Chapel, the Primitive Methodists met in members’ cottages including Leader William Ward’s home on 10th March 1801, believed to be on East (Back) Lane. On the List of 1804, there were 24 members. John Ward (single) led the second class with Susannah Ward (married), William Ward (single) and Dolley (Dorothy) Ward (single). Methodism was a hard life for the Leaders, but this sounds like very good advice “… Always conclude service in about an  our, Never scream, Never lean upon or beat the Bible, do not without the utmost necessity go home at night, introduce no new tunes …”.
The father of William, John, Susannah and Dorothy was William Ward (1746-1812) Yeoman of Edwinstowe.
In 1828, his eldest son William Ward (b.1774) preacher fell out with one of the itinerant preachers in the Retford Circuit. Edwinstowe Methodists had quarrelled with the Wesleyans and were “blacklisted” by some preachers. Ward was surprised to be retained as a local preacher and, in 1828 “An Appeal in respect the Conduct of Preachers and others” was printed for him in Nottingham.
Eldest son William Ward had married Sarah Hugall in February 1806 and they had one child, James, before she died in 1811. James grew up to become an active member of the Primitive Methodists and records show that they met in his house in 1835.  In the 1841 Census, farmer James Ward was living on Chapel Lane. (Some people still remember going to Sunday School at the Chapel next to fields of cows and a farmyard.  See also an article about Reverend James Flanagan.) https://edwinstowehistory.org.uk/local-history/people/early-vicars/reverend-james-flanagan/

Following Sarah’s death, William married Martha Parker in 1813, and they had one daughter and 3 sons before his death in 1833.  In 1840, his 2 older sons emigrated to Australia, followed in 1842 by widow Martha, his widowed daughter Rachael Thompson, and youngest son, Samuel.  Having successfully established himself as a farmer and butcher in Camden, Samuel then took up many acres of farming and grazing land around Cootamundra. In 1859, he encouraged and paid for his half-brother James, wife Mary and their 6 children to emigrate to Australia, where they became farmers near Parkes.  of Samuel’s sons, Arthur Nash Ward, married a staunch Methodist widow, Mary Hobbs, who had settled on a farm known as “Daisy Vale” at Jindalee, 5 miles from Cootamundra.  In the early 1870s, the railway line from Sydney to Melbourne was being built, bringing new families with it, so she set up a residence and provisions shop near the main road, where she also commenced Methodist Church services.  In this regard, she invited the Methodist Home Missionary, based in Young – a 2 days ride by horse each way – to conduct monthly services in her kitchen.  When the increasing influx of worshippers outgrew the kitchen space, she donated 5 acres of the farm for a church to be built.

This Jindalee Methodist Church opened in 1875 and was still operating with monthly Sunday afternoon services more than 100 years later.  Only 3 years later, she donated more land adjoining the church site so the Education Department could build a school to educate the growing number of local children.
Clarissa Ward, the wife of Arthur’s eldest son Samuel Norton, played the peddle organ in the Church and her farmer son Alan became a local preacher in Cootamundra and surrounding districts. It is remarkable that the early growth and development path of the Primitive Methodists in Edwinstowe was repeated in Jindalee some 75 years later, with the same family of Wards actively involved.
Many thanks to Alan’s son, David Ward of Melbourne, for sharing his family history. [Post Script:  As recently as December 2025, David’s researcher in Nottingham, Peter Hammond, has established that the Primitive Methodist Leader, William Ward, was the son of a George Ward (1718-1765), who in turn was the son of weaver Samuel.  He had not been found with his siblings in Edwinstowe records, having been baptised in Wellow.
Despite the graves of James Ward (1713-1798) and George Ward (1718-1765) being adjacent to each other in St Mary’s graveyard, no family connection has yet been found.