When Irishman Patrick Ward camped under his dray on a selection of land in Kerry in 1874, he could never have known hundreds of his descendants would celebrate his legacy.
But that is just what they will do at the ‘Celebrating 150 Years of Wards in Kerry Qld’ picnic at Kerry Memorial Hall on June 9.
A tight knit family
You would almost need a degree in genealogy to get your head around the Ward family tree, but what is clear is the pocket of Wards in the Kerry Valley is still going strong.
Hundreds of Patrick Ward and Annie Horan’s descendants will celebrate their family ties at a BYO picnic at Kerry Memorial Hall at 11am on June 9.
The activity in their private Facebook Group, ‘150 Years of the Wards in Kerry’ is lively and constant and they have even set up a website and a family committee to manage the logistics of celebrating their milestone.
The man who started it all, Patrick Ward, was born in 1838, in Cummertha, Co Monaghan, Ireland, and died in 1902, at ‘Cummertha’, the name given to the original Ward homestead at Kerry down the road from Beaudesert. Just as important is the woman he married, Annie Horan, who was born in 1855, in Longford, Kings Co, Ireland, and died on 30 Apr 1924.
Patrick and Annie are reported to be the first people to settle and farm in the Kerry Valley in June 1874. They had ten children: Mary Ann, John Stephen, Patrick, Kate, Margaret, Bernard, Bridgeteena, Thomas, Agnes and Gertrude.
Humble beginnings
The ‘Wards and All’ book by Brian Ward recounts a simple start in the Kerry Valley in 1874.
“(Patrick) arrived on his selection with a dray, picks, axes, spades, hoes and 2 bags of seed potatoes and his food. When he first arrived, he camped under his dray,” the book recounts.
“Legend has it, he dug a sod and placed a potato under each one and reaped over a ton of potatoes. The rich fertile soil must have made Patrick very happy with his farm selection.
“With the help of Jim Horan, his brother-in-law, he built a slab cottage of four rooms and a verandah facing the river with two baby rose trees each side of the steps. He called it “Tandoor” (meaning box trees). He then brought his wife Annie and baby daughter, Mary Ann, to live with him on the property.”
“He later built a more imposing homestead, of all sawn timber, with a detached kitchen, which was the style of the day. This house is still standing today and is now called Cummertha named after Patrick’s birthplace in Ireland.”
The book says over time, the family grew all their food, from arrowroot to oranges, sold bacon for cash to merchants in Brisbane and bred horses to sell to the Indian Army.
Along with the sale of cattle, all these sales went toward payment for the land.
Still going strong
The Wards of today remember a childhood full of playing together after their farm chores, swimming in the Albert River, playing tennis up and down the valley and at one stage even having 10 Wards on the local cricket team.
Patrick’s great granddaughter Mary Rohan said the reunion was for the future of the family.
“It’s the next generation meeting family and all having a bit of fun together,” she said.
Her cousin Mark Ward, Patrick’s grandson, said it was a close-knit family.
“It’s an incredible connection, and to think most of the descendants get along really well is special,” he said.
