Michael Edward Ward & Annie Frances Sallaway (HN:1252)
Birth place
Michael Edward Ward was born at Kilmore, Victoria on 5 July 1864, the second son of Michael Ward and Ann Ryan. Michael Edward was baptised at St Patricks, Kilmore.
When the Wards came to Nyngan and acquired Greencamp one of the blocks of approximately 2,300 acres was in Michael Edward’s name. According to the Govt. Gazette of 1887 and 1890, Michael Edward also owned Ferndale, which is a few miles past Girilambone, northwest of Nyngan.
Marriage and children
Michael Edward Ward married Annie Frances Sallaway on 7 February 1893 in Cobar. Her father, Favel Sallaway, owned the Double Gates Hotel in Cobar. At the time of Annie’s birth in 1873 Favel was a carter at Grenfell. Michael Edward and Annie Frances had seven children as follows:
- Anne Frances (Nance) born 1894 at Greencamp
- William Joseph (Bill) 1896 at Whitewood
- Helen (Nellie) 1899 at Oberon
- Michael 1901 infant death
- Harry Favel 1904 at Greencamp
- Nora (Norse) 1906 at Nyngan
- Jessica 1914 at Nyngan.
Katoomba and Yeoval
Around 1903, Michael Edward sold his share in Greencamp and moved to Katoomba where it is said he had a butcher shop. There was a Ward Bros. Butchery that had shops in a few locations including Katoomba and Lithgow, but there is no evidence it is linked to Michael Edward or his brothers or other relatives. If they did, Ward Bros sold out of the butchery in 1913. The 1903 Govt. Gazette had Michael Edward owning a property Kew at Oberon.
The house owned by Michael Edward and Annie Frances in Katoomba was large and called Mascot. There is a reference in The Katoomba Daily, 3 July 1936, to a house named Mascot, Katoomba Falls Road. The Australian Electoral Roll for 1913 identifies both Michael Edward and Annie Frances living in Merriwa Street, Katoomba.
By 1914, Michael Edward entered a partnership with a Michael Ryan to run sheep on the property North Timbie near Yeoval. There was considerable expansion in 1919 with leases taken on adjacent property. To the right is the parish map that shows the land that formed the Michael Edward property of Timbie. There is a road that runs east-west just above the centre of the Obley Parish. South of this road, middle right is a blue block with the Parish Number 105. This is the original Condition Purchase made by the partnership and mortgaged to the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney. To the west of this block shaded in red are blocks with the Parish Numbers 98, 99, 116, 117 and 131. There are annotated as Additional Conditional Purchases to the original Conditional Purchase and these occurred during 1919. Block 116 notes M. Ryan and M.E. Ward. In total, the size of these blocks was about 1,280 acres.
A notice in The Wellington Times, 11 July 1921 reads:
NOTICE THE PARTNERSHIP hitherto existing between MICHAEL EDWARD WARD and MICHAEL RYAN of 'Timbi', near Yeoval, Graziers, has this day been DISSOLVED by mutual consent. Dated this twentieth day of May A.D. 1921. M. E. WARD, M. RYAN. Witness: T. P. BASSETT, J.P., Solicitor, Wellington.
The Gazette of NSW, Issue 184, 16 December 1921 includes a riveting table of registered sheep brands. In the Molong District, Michael Edward Ward is listed as having property at North Timbie and the imaginative branding of "MW" for his sheep.
Today, a somewhat small portion of the original Timbie is an olive grove of 6,000 trees. The April harvest is bottled as Timbie Olive Oil.
Railway Hotel, Bogan Gate
At the beginning of the depression, things must have been going badly. In the 1920s, Michael Edward sold up some of his properties and bought a proprietorship of a Tooth and Company hotel, the Railway Hotel, at Bogan Gate in 1927. Trade dropped 30% in 1929 and this prompted the sale of the hotel. Tooth and Company kept good records of their hotels and their trade. To the right is a so termed 'yellow card' that records the ownership of The Railway Hotel, Bogan Gate.
After selling the hotel in January 1930, Michael Edward moved to Walkers Hill, Condobolin that he also had to give up as the depression hit harder. William Joseph and Harry Favel moved to their uncle Patrick's property Birrilee, near Orange. Michael Edward moved back to Greencamp and went into partnership with his brother Thomas in late 1930’s. The Australian Electoral Roll of 1935 records Michael Edward and Annie Frances living at the property of Redlands, Miandetta, that was owned by their nephew Patrick Francis Ward.
Later years
As they were getting on in years they invited Michael Edward’s son William Joseph to join them, who took over his father's share of the stock partnership and became manager. Thomas had built a new house on Greencamp as the original house had burnt down in around 1919.
Michael Edward and Annie Frances lived at Greencamp with Nance, their daughter, looking after them. Michael died of pneumonia at Katoomba on 6 February 1943 aged 78 years and Annie Frances died at Nyngan on 12 July 1948. Michael is buried at Blackheath next to his two brothers, John and William, who predeceased him.
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Death certificate for Michael Edward Ward -
Grave of Michael Edward Ward -
William, Michael Edward and Harry Ward, late 1930s
Links
Children of Michael Edward Ward & Annie Frances Sallaway
- Annie Frances Ward (born in 1894)
- William Joseph Ward (1896)
- Helen Josephine Ward (1899)
- Michael Ward (1901, infant death)
- Henry Favel Ward (1904)
- Nora Gertrude Ward (1906)
- Jessica Louise Ward (1914)
Parents of Michael Edward Ward
- Michael Ward and Ann Ryan (married in 1861)
Siblings of Michael Edward Ward
- John Ward (born in 1862)
- Hanora Ward (1866)
- Patrick Ward (1867, infant death)
- Patrick Ward (1868)
- Thomas Ward (1871)
- Margaret Ward (1874)
- William Joseph Ward (1877)