A History of Preston
in Hertfordshire
Joseph Ward was my 4xgreat grandfather and the first of my ancestors to live in Preston
-
The origins of the Ward family who settled in Preston are unclear. According to the
International Genealogy Index there were two Joseph Wards (my earliest known ancestor)
who were baptized in Hertfordshire around the time my ancestor was born i.e. 1690
-
A case can be made that the Ward family were living in Cheshunt, Herts in the early
eighteenth century and that Joseph Ward of this family later moved to the Hitchin
area. The evidence for this theory is that there is a baptism of a Joseph Ward at
Cheshunt in 1708. However, there is no record of his death in the parish and he does
not appear in the Cheshunt Militia Lists (1756 – 1801). The implication is that he
moved from Cheshunt. But his destination cannot be determined. Cheshunt is some distance
away from Hitchin -
Another theory is that Joseph was part of the Ward family who were living in Kings Walden at the end of the seventeenth century. A Joseph Ward was baptized there in 1696. In view of the proximity of Kings Walden to Hitchin, I suggest that this Joseph is the more likely candidate to be my forefather. But, as discussed later, there is an indication that Joseph had a brother, Henry (who married Ann), and although there is a marriage of a Henry Ward to Ann at nearby Luton in 1737, there is no record of a baptism of a Henry Ward in or near Kings Walden.
Looking back-
A for-
When researching the Ward family, one should bear in mind that Ward is sometimes written or transcribed as Wade. There are several examples of this: the Temple Dinsley Manor Court Roll of 1808 refers to William Wade; a list of Preston inhabitants dated 1806 includes several Wades; the 1851 census records John Wade at Preston; the Kings Walden Militia List notes that ‘Ward is also spelt as Wade’ etc. Knowing this alternative spelling is important when compiling a Ward family tree – as will be shown.
Joseph Ward (? -
Now we move to more definite details. Joseph Ward, my greatx3 grandfather married Mary Arnold in 1729 at St Marys, Hitchin. This view is confirmed as Mary had been baptized in St Pauls Walden, Herts in 1706 and several of Joseph and Mary’s descendants settled in this parish.
At the time of their wedding, both Joseph and Mary were ‘of this parish’ i.e. Hitchin. After their marriage, they may well have lived in Preston. Joseph and his second wife were certainly living there in 1751 and St Pauls Walden is less than two miles from Preston, but almost five miles from Hitchin.
According to the parish register, Joseph was a labourer. He and Mary had five children between 1730 and 1742, the first of whom, Mary, was baptized at St Marys, Hitchin. In 1746, Joseph’s wife, Mary died – she is recorded as Mary Wade in the Hitchin burials. About eighteen months later, on 31 December 1747, Joseph returned to St Marys to remarry. His new bride was Elizabeth Hill. The couple had three children from 1748 to 1752.
1751 saw three events that may be connected. Joseph and Elizabeth’s two children
were baptized on 8 April 1751. Seven weeks later, on 26 May 1751, Joseph christened
his three surviving unbaptized children by his first wife, Mary – two were in their
late teens. The Hitchin parish register helpfully records their dates of birth. Also,
in 1751, Joseph and Elizabeth moved to a new home at Preston Green -
In quick succession, first Elizabeth died in August 1769 and then Joseph in May 1771.
Discovering Joseph and Elizabeth’s home at Preston
What had she discovered about the Wards? The only possible record which might give
this information was the manorial roll of Temple Dinsley. When I consulted this,
I discovered that there was a note dated 21 October 1793 that the cottage was ‘formerly
occupied by Jeremiah Gazely and afterwards Joseph Ward and now William Ward.’ However,
after further in-
So, when had the Wards moved to this cottage at Preston? It was another Hitchin parish
record which gave the answer -
Joseph Ward’s children
Mary married Jeremiah Squires and settled in St Pauls Walden.
Ruth died a spinster aged 23.
Ann married Robert Potton. They were living at Preston in 1768 to 1778.
James was living at Preston in 1762.
Samuel married and moved to Therfield, Herts (a village with other links to the Ward family).
Daniel was lame, disabled and on crutches. He died in the Hitchin Workhouse in 1813.
My line continues through Joseph’s youngest son, William.
The Wards at Preston
It was the ‘valuable genealogical source’ of the Militia Ballot Lists (1757-
As Ward is a relatively uncommon name, that there were so many in such a small village would indicate that they were related, perhaps cousins. Four Wards (Daniel, James’ Samuel, and William) were the sons of Joseph; two Wards (Henry and Jesse) were the sons of Henry (a labourer) and Ann. The seventh Ward was John Ward who probably married Elizabeth Ward at Kings Walden in 1762.
If this reading of the data is correct, perhaps Joseph, Henry and John’s fathers were brothers (something that may be confirmed as two of their sons were crippled) – however this is unproven and does not help in finding their parents. At this point, it is beginning to become clear that the Wards were not diligent about baptizing their children. To illustrate, Henry (born 1745) and his wife Elizabeth had no children christened, yet the Militia List notes that Henry had three children in 1784 – indeed the death of one, William, is recorded in 1804 in Hitchin.
The Wards at Preston in the Herts Militia List
William Ward (1752 -
William Ward was a labourer who lived all his life in the semi-
Mary continued to live in Preston until about 1820. Then, her daughter, Ann, married Matthew Gudgin and moved to Barton in the Clay in Bedfordshire. Mary was living with them at her death in 1841 when she was about 90 years old.
My line continues through William
Samuel married Sarah Halsey and moved to Codicote, Herts
Mary was a spinster who was living at Preston in 1841.
Joseph married Amey Hill in Ippollitts. He died a widower at Edmonton workhouse.
Henry married Rebecca Croft at St Marys, Hitchin and lived in the cottage at Preston Green. However, he died in 1822 aged 37 when they were living in Langley, near Preston.
Daniel married Ann from Therfield and lived in Preston until at least 1822. They had four (?) children and by 1841 they had moved to Church End, St Pauls Walden. Their descendants are featured at this link: Cornwall Wards
Ann married Matthew Gudgin at St Mary, Hitchin. The family moved to Barton-
William Ward (1776 -
My greatx2 grandfather, William Ward married Ann Braddon whose labouring family came from Charlton near Preston. They had ten children between 1798 and 1819. William was a farm worker. When his wife died in 1838, William lived for more than twenty years with his daughter, Hannah Sturgess and her family at Back Lane, Preston. He was also with them when they moved to Charlton, Herts in the 1850s. He died in 1866 almost 90 years old.
Hannah married William Sturgess at St Marys Hitchin. They lived at Back Lane until the 1850s when they moved to the neighbouring village of Charlton.
William married Emma Wilshire at St Marys, Hitchin. They lived in Preston all their
lives although they did move around -
John Ward married but by 1851 he was a widower working as an agricultural labourer on George Lake’s farm.
My line continues through Elizabeth who was the first sister to marry a Fairey (Samuel) at St Marys, Hitchin. Their family lived all their lives at Back Lane, Preston.
To continue the story of my family click link: Samuel and Elizabeth Fairey.
Catherine married Thomas Fairey at St Marys, Hitchin. The family lived in Ley Green,
Kings Walden from 1851-
Thomas married Charlotte Watson at Ippollitts. The family moved frequently ending at Luton in 1881. Thomas was a hawker and grocer.
Ward stories and reports
The Wards were not an entirely harmonious family. In July 1834, John Ward (and two
of his brothers-
Then, in May 1845, Thomas Ward (28) was charged with assaulting his eighteen-
William and Ann’s son, John Ward (born 1811) had several skirmishes with the law including the assault mentioned earlier – mainly because he was a poacher. In 1841, he and his brother, Thomas Ward, were charged with trespassing in search of rabbits on Harriet Saunderson’s land in Kings Walden. They couldn’t or wouldn’t pay the 20s fine (about two weeks wages) so both were committed to the House of Correction at Hertford for a month’s hard labour.
In 1856, John Ward was convicted in his absence of setting snares on land at Preston owned by Thomas Darwood Darton and as a result spent another month at Hertford.
William and Ann’s son, Thomas Ward, was the victim of an assault in 1856. He alleged that at about eleven o’clock he discovered that his donkeys had strayed onto Mr Wright’s land and went into the field to ‘fetch them out’. Wright approached him and after an argument struck Thomas in the face and said he would thrash him if he didn’t ‘take himself off’. Wright was fined 5s and costs despite claiming that Thomas had kicked his leg.
Two of Daniel and Ann Ward’s children also came before the magistrates at Hitchin.
When Henry Ward (born 1825) was living at Whitwell in 1848, he was found guilty of
setting snares in a wood and was fined £5 and 15/6d costs ‘being an old defender’.
Seven years earlier, Mary Ward, Daniel’s seventeen-
William and Emma Ward were removed from Hitchin parish in 1844. They had been living
at Preston in 1841. William testified that when he was about 14 or 15 years of age
he started working for Robert Harwood who owned Poynders End Farm at Ippollitts.
He was paid a shilling a week and given board and lodgings -
Hannah Sturgess (nee Ward) had a life of poverty. Her story is told in the Removal
Orders of Hitchin parish and the 1871 census. After marrying William Sturgess (who
was born at Barton-
It was recorded that Hannah was living in and chargeable to the parish of Hitchin. However, William was living at Houghton Conquest (having gained settlement in the parish because of living there and working for a local farmer,Thomas Armerage) and was in bed and too ill to come to Hitchin. He had become ill two years after their marriage and received parish relief for two weeks at Houghton Conquest. He had since lived at Hitchin. In 1831, William was again ill and received relief of three or four shillings (less than half a farm labourer’s weekly wage) for 11 or 12 weeks from the Houghton overseers, which was collected by Hannah who travelled to the parish every two or three weeks. During the year of the disturbances at Ampthill, William was out of work for 14 weeks and received more parish relief from Houghton. The Hitchin overseers attempted to send William back to Houghton but this failed due to his continuing ill health.
Later, in 1871, William and Hannah were living in the almshouses at Bancroft Street, Hitchin many of which are still standing.
John Ward was also involved in the case of the arson attack on Parsonage Farm, Kings Walden in 1844. The accused was Charles Stevens (19) a labourer from Hitchin whose family had lived in Preston. John was a witness and was described as a labourer from Preston. This was his testimony:
‘I knew the prisoner from a child. I remember the fire at Mr Roberts’. On a Sunday
about five weeks ago I saw the prisoner at Styles’ public house. There were several
in the house. We drank together and left about half-
During his cross-
The judge during his summing-
The jury did not believe John’s evidence and found Stevens, ‘Not guilty’.
Other Wards living in the vicinity of Hitchin
When trying to find the correct partners of Ward children and trace them in the censuses, it is helpful to be aware of other Wards living around Hitchin.
(1) Cornelius Ward and his wife, Mary nee Welch (married 6 November 1764 at Kings Walden) were living in Kings Walden between 1763 and 1772. They had a son, Joseph baptized in the parish in 1767.
(2) There was also the Reverend Henry Ward (born 1764c) who married Jennett Hull in Stevenage in 1795. He lived in Langley where he was also a (parish?) clerk until his early death in 1805. The couple had three daughters.
(3) At Hitchin, the lame and infirm George Ward (married Sarah Serle at St Mary, Hitchin 17 October 1776) was plying his trade as a cordwainer (shoemaker) probably at Tilehouse Street. He and Sarah died in 1811 and 1823 respectively having produced at least ten children, five of whom died in infancy.
(4) William Ward from Ickleford married Ann Cooper at St Marys, Hitchin in 1807. She died at Hitchin in 1809 and William remarried Mary Mills at Hitchin in 1817
Information about the Ward family home at Preston was discovered in an article about the Red Lion by local Preston historian, Nina Freebody. She described how the public house had been two cottages at one time and wrote, ‘By 1811 the property had been divided into three cottages which were occupied by Thomas Cain, William Hawkins and Henry Ward’. She added, ‘the family of the latter having lived in the smaller cottage for many years’.
cottage) had about an acre of land at the rear, its tenants were liable for this tax. My great x5 grandfather, Joseph Ward, first appears on this list in 1751. Thus, my family lived in Preston from this time.
The nearest cottage was the home of the Wards
