WARD, JOHN (1856-1922), museum official, and antiquary;
b. Feb. 1856 at Derby. He started life as a chemist, but in 1893 was appointed curator of the Cardiff municipal museum. He concentrated upon collecting and preserving material of Welsh interest, as a result of which the name of the museum was changed to ‘The Welsh Museum of Natural History, Arts and Antiquities.’ In 1912, when this museum was merged in the National Museum of Wales, Ward was appointed keeper of the department of archaeology. He conducted excavations of historic sites, notably the Roman fort at Gelli-gaer, Glam., and the S. Nicholas (Glam.) chambered tumulus. He published Romano-British Buildings and Earthworks, 1911, and The Roman Era in Britain, 1911, and also many important papers on excavations and other matters in Trans. Cardiff Nat. Soc., Arch. Camb., Arch. Jnl., and Archaeologia. In 1918 he received the honorary degree of M.A. from the University of Wales. He d. 18 June 1922 at Derby.
Author:
Archibald Henry Lee, M.A., Cardiff
