John Ward was educated at Fort Street Boys High School, Sydney. Having been admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1948, he was a Visiting Professor at Yale University in 1963; Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford in 1968; and the Smuts Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University in 1972. Ward played a major role in the development of the activities of the University of Sydney's Academic Board. He was the last Chairman of the Professorial Board (1974), drafted the constitution of the succeeding academic board and became its first chairman (1975 - 1977). Ward was highly regarded by staff and students for his administrative skills, international perspective and his personal qualities of courtesy and kindness. An honorary doctorate was conferred on him by Waseda University (Japan) in 1990. Waseda and the University of Sydney had signed a cultural agreement in 1985, which encouraged academic visits, student exchange and the exchange of scientific materials.
A distinguished historian, Ward was serving as Challis Professor of History from 1948 to 1979. He produced major books and articles on British, Imperial and Australian history which have won international acclaim. They include British Policy in the South Pacific, 1796-1893 (reprinted three times); Earl Grey and the Australian Colonies, 1847-1856; Colonial Self-Government, the British Experience, 1759-1856; and James Macarthur, Colonial Conservative, 1798-1867, the latter being the first in a trilogy on conservatism in Australia. Professor Ward had planned on retirement to complete the other two books in the series. Not long after his retirement, Ward, his wife Patricia and his daughted Jennifer, who were on board the 3801 steam train on a Sunday excursion run between Sydney and the Hunter Valley, were killed after a train crash near the Hawkesbury River Station.
(Adapted from the University of Sydney News special edition, 8 May 1990).
