The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Ward, Crosbie
Ward, Crosbie, a well-known New Zealand politician, was the third son of the late Hon. and Rev. Henry Ward, rector of Kilhirchy, county Down, Ireland, by his marriage with Anne, daughter of Rev. Henry Mahon, and grandson of Hon. Edward Ward and Lady Arabella (Crosbie) his wife, daughter of the first Earl of Glandore. His father's eldest brother became the third Viscount Bangor, and Mr. Crosbie Ward was first cousin to the late Sir E. W. Ward, K.C.M.G. (q.v.). He was born in 1833, and was educated at the College School, Castletown, Isle of Man, and at Trinity College, Dublin. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1852, being one of the pioneers of the Canterbury Church of England settlement in that colony. In March 1855 he was elected to the Provincial Council of Canterbury for Akaroa, and in the following Dec. he stood for the New Zealand House of Representatives for Christchurch country district, but was defeated. He again contested the constituency in Oct. 1856, but was again unsuccessful. In May 1858, however, he was elected to the House for Lyttelton, for which he was also returned to the Provincial Council later in the same year. In August 1861 he accepted office in the Fox Ministry as Postmaster-General and Secretary for Crown Lands. Resigning with his chief in August of the next year, he was a few days later reappointed Postmaster-General under Mr. Domett, retiring with his colleagues in Oct. 1863. Early in that year he had been sent to England to negotiate for the establishment of a mail service via Panama, and this he successfully achieved, and on his return in March 1864 was offered his old portfolio of Postmaster-General by the then Premier, Sir Frederick Weld. He, however, declined to re-enter office, and engaged in an agitation for the separation of the North and South islands of New Zealand. Whilst in England as the representative of the Domett Government, he discussed the question of the war expenditure with the Imperial Government, and published a defence of the colony in a letter addressed to Lord Lyttelton, one of the founders of the Canterbury settlement. Mr. Ward became connected with the Lyttelton Times as a part proprietor in July 1856, and was a voluminous and very able contributor to its columns. Shortly after his refusal to join the Weld Government, Mr. Ward was appointed agent in England for the province of Canterbury, and died in London whilst acting in that capacity in 1867. Mr. Ward married on Jan. 13th, 1857, Margaret, seventh daughter of James Townsend, of Christchurch, N.Z.