An Ancestral History of William N. Ward born 1945

 

This site is named in honor Fouques De La Vardes who is believed to be the name of an early Norman ancestor of our surname Ward. He was born in Normandy, France about 975 AD. His descendants settled in England from France. Sons and grandsons of Fouques supported Duke William during the Norman Invasion of England of 1066.

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The Coat of Arms shown here is one attributed to the Irish Clan Mac an Bhaird. Clann an Bháird was one of the learned families of late medieval Ireland. The name has evolved over many centuries, the anglicized forms coming down as MacAward, McWard, MacEward, MacEvard, Macanward, M'Ward, and its most commonly used variant today: Ward.

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Many lines of Wards immigrated to America in the 17th century. The family of Wards I descend from, likely Scot-Irish from Ireland, came to America settling in Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky. This family's genealogy is currently unknown earlier than my 3x great grand parents, William Ward, born about 1755, probably in North Carolina and his wife, Memory Larimore, born about 1762, in Queen Anne Parish, Maryland. My DNA testing and matches show consistentcy to William and Memory of Rockingham County, North Carolina, but not before. My DNA also tells me I am not genetically related to the 18th century Wards of Onslow, North Carolina.  My most recent, shared common genetic ancestor, is a man, of R1b genetic lineage, known only as R-BY122665, born about 700-1300CE, in Ireland. 

 

My currently known ancestors were prominent in Rockingham County, North Carolina before moving to Green County, Kentucky about 1805. I will soon add my latest research to the File Share section, in a new paper, The Ancestry of William Nathan Ward of the DalCassian Dynasty.

 

For those focused on the ancestry of Seth Ward of early Jamestown Colony, I have included unpublished articles about the early generations of Wards in Jamestown Colony, (2017) by Dr. Dana Ward, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus, Political Studies at Pitzer College. Also included are 2024 articles by Richard Warren Davis on the Wards of Cambridgeshire in the 15th, 16th centuries and 17th century Jamestown era.  You may view the files on the File Share page.