John Henry Ward was born on the 12th of June 1874 at the family home of  62 Great Northern Terrace inLincoln. He was the second of two children born to John Richard Ward, a Locomotive Fireman, and his wife Sarah Jane (nee Lamb). He appears to have been baptised on the 12th July 1874 at All Saints Church in Nettleham, near Lincoln. This was the parish where his maternal grandparents lived.  However, the entry in the baptism register was not completed fully and, very unusually, has been struck out (see image in BMD Records below).

Sadly, on the 22nd October 1875, when John Henry was only 1 year old, his 25 year old father died, just 4 days after contracting the skin disease Erysipelas⁽¹⁾. For reasons not known, the widow Sarah Jane took John Henry and his brother William to live in Middleton by Wirksworth where she married a 26 year old Stone Merchant called William Killer in November 1876.

With a stated age of 3 years and 0 months, John Henry was admitted to the Middleton by Wirksworth National Junior School on the 18th of June 1877. There were further admission records in 1879, 1882 and 1884. He was known by his forename of Henry during his school days and Harry in later life, although official records always show his full name.

When the April 1881 census was taken, 6 year old Henry and his 8 year old brother were living with their mother and step-father in Main Street, Middleton and recorded as step-sons. By 1891, Henry was working as a Blacksmith.

Another tragedy struck the family in February 1893. Henry's brother William, who worked as an Engine Cleaner at a Sawmill, was struck by the connecting rod of the steam engine, which knocked him down and stunned him. In the following days he began to complain of a pain in the back of his head and started to have fits. He died on the 1st of March.

The following year brought happier times.  Henry met 19 year old Grace Bates, who was working in Wirksworth as a Domestic Servant for Joseph Stone, a local Solicitor. They were married at St Mary's Church in Wirksworth on the 24th of October 1894. Henry and Grace were still living in Middleton when their first child, Florence Emma, was born on the 6th of February 1896, although he was now working as a Quarryman, most likely in the Stone Quarry operated by his step-father William Killer. By the time their second child, Richard Henry Victor, was born on the 24th May 1900, Henry and his wife had moved to 84 Nursery Street in the Brightside district of Sheffield and was working as a Steam Crane Driver. Curiously, Florence had been left with her maternal grandparents, with whom she spent much of her childhood.

When the April 1911 Census was taken, the family were all living together at 3 Cross Gilpin Street in the Philadelphia district of Sheffield. For some baffling reason, Henry had completed the form with a false surname! He used the surname of his step-father 'Killer' and not their true surname of 'Ward'.

Henry and Grace are shown in the Electoral Registers as living at 20 Carrfield Road, Sheffield in 1920 and 1924. However, by 1928 Grace had left (family lore has it that she 'ran off' with the Coalman). In 1930 John Henry is still at that address but is joined by a Florence Taylor. They were no longer at that address in 1932.

In the 1939 register, Henry was living at 17 Brickfields in Sheffield and still working as a Steam Crane driver. The only other person at that address was an Emma Ward (born on the 6th of June 1875, so a similar age). They were both recorded as 'married' but no obvious marriage⁽²⁾ has been found so they may not have been married. In early 1947, Emma's surname was updated to Mead⁽³⁾ in the 1939 register, which could mean that Henry had died.

Only these entries in the GRO Death Index are close to the age, name and locality criteria:

Deaths of John Henry Ward after 1939 Register

1Q1942 in Sheffield aged 68 (yob 1874)
This person died on 29 Mar 1942 at 2, Herries Road, Sheffield, although his home was at 8, Meadow View Road. Probate was granted to The Yorkshire Penny Bank.

2Q1945 in Sheffield aged 70 (yob 1875)

Notes
(1) Erysipelas - An acute, febrile, infectious disease, caused by a specific group 4 streptococcus bacterium and characterised by a diffusely spreading, deep-red inflammation of the skin or mucous membranes causing a rash with a well-defined margin. Also known as Saint Anthony's Fire (from its burning heat or, perhaps, because Saint Anthony was Supposed to cure it miraculously).It is a condition that is now successfully treated with Penicillin but this was 53 years before it was discovered.

(2)  There is a marriage in Doncaster in the last quarter of 1934 between a John Ward and Emma Evans and one in Wakefield in the third quarter of 1936 between a John H Ward and Sarah Griffiths - both places are around 25 miles from Sheffield.

(3) There is a marriage in the first quarter of 1947, in Sheffield, between a Sarah E Ward and Samuel J Mead.