William Sykes WARD 1815-1885

William was born on 29th October 1815. He married Caroline BYWATER in 1841 in Leeds. He was baptised at Leeds Parish Church on 10th January 1816 on the same day as Sarah Ward (b. 15th November 1815) the daughter of William and Elizabeth Ward, Inn Keeper, Briggate.

He joined his father as an attorney in Leeds. He was secretary of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society between 1840 and 1869 and patented improvements to atmospheric railways in 1845. He gave over fourteen lectures between 1836 and 1871 on a wide range of subjects from "The atomic composition of matter" to the explanation of the process by which milk is converted to powder- The Desiccated Milk of Commerce.

In 1826 he was living in his father's house at Leathley Lodge, Hunslet Lane. In 1856 he was at Claypit House and by 1861 he was at Denison Hall, Hanover Sq, Leeds. This was a fashionable area of Leeds at the time. William is mentioned in an article on the Heaton's of Claremont:

So here in 1856 we have Dr and Mrs Heaton moving to 23 Clarendon Road, and eighteenth century merchant's house, which he name Claremont....He was later to buy the kitchen garden with glasshouses from the then owner of Denison Hall, Mr Sykes Ward...At that time Woodhouse Square consisted of elegant Georgian houses on the south side. In Clarendon Road and the surrounding area new villas and large terrace houses were being built.

Aspects of Leeds. Ed. Lynne Stevenson Tate. Wharncliffe Publishing Ltd, Barnsley 1998 isbn: 1-871647-38-x