Catalogue for the auction of
Cricket, Football, Golf & Sporting Memorabilia

To be held on Friday, Saturday & Sunday
29th, 30th November & 1st December 2024

William Ward. Surrey, Hampshire & M.C.C. 1810-1845. Signed free-front envelope to a Miss Roundhill of Gledstone, dated and sent from ‘Winchester, July sixteen 1829’. Nicely signed ‘W. Ward’ in black ink to lower left corner. A rare early signature of Ward, a right handed batsman and occasional lob-bowler who played 130 first-class matches and was considered for many years one of the leading batsman in England. Good/ very good condition.
William Ward was born in 1787 and educated at Winchester where he first played cricket. His first recorded match was in 1810 when he played for England against Surrey at Lord’s. His greatest achievement was when playing for M.C.C. v Norfolk at Lord’s in 1820 he scored 279, a record that remained unbroken until W.G. Grace made 344 in 1876. He made eighteen appearances for the Gentlemen v Players between 1819-1838. In 1825 he bought from Thomas Lord the lease of Lord’s cricket ground for five thousand pounds, when Lord was considering selling the ground for building. In 1836 J.H. Dark purchased the remainder of the lease from Ward. Ward was M.P. for the City of London between 1826 and 1831. He died in 1849.

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