14501940
15001600170018001900
Floruit: 1577–1598
floruit 1577 (A)—1598 (B); Male, married
Life Events
| Event |
Date |
Source
|
| Death |
- before 6 Mar 1598 Wife presented an apprentice |
McKerrow, R.B. &c. (1910)
|
Family Relationships
Livery Companies
| Company |
Source
|
| Stationers' Company |
|
Occupations (1)
| Occupation |
Comment
|
| Printer |
McKerrow, R.B. &c. (1910)
|
Was Apprentice to Master(s): (1)
Had Apprentice(s): (4)
Addresses (8)
| Date |
Address |
Trade at Addr |
Source |
Comment
|
| 1578 |
Temple Bar |
|
STC. vol.3, (1991) |
|
| 1580 |
Holborn Conduit, The Talbot |
|
STC. vol.3, (1991) |
|
| 1582-05-01 |
Shorpshire - Shrewsbury |
|
STC. vol.3, (1991) |
- secret press
|
| 1589 |
Lambeth Hill |
|
STC. vol.3, (1991) |
- near Old Fish Street
|
| 1590-01-01 |
Old Bailey, Sign of the Purse |
|
STC. vol.3, (1991) |
|
| 1593 |
Holborn |
|
STC. vol.3, (1991) |
- at the sign of the Castle
|
| 1594 |
Fleet Street, Sign of the Castle |
|
STC. vol.3, (1991) |
|
| 1596 |
Salisbury Court, Fleet Street |
|
STC. vol.3, (1991) |
- at sign of the Castle
|
Events (3)
Sources and References
| Original Sources |
Comments
|
| St.Co. Archive - Binding and Freedom records - extracted by Prof. J.A. Lavin |
|
SOURCES & TRANSCRIPTIONS
Transcriptions
S.T.C., (1991), vol.3, p.177
McKerrow, R.B. &c. (1910), pp.282-3
WARD (ROGER), printer in London, 1577-95; (1) The Talbot by Holborn Conduit, 1577-88; (2) Upon Lambert Hill near Old Fish Street, 1589; (3) Hammersmith (a secret press), 1590; (4) At the Purse, in the Little Old Bailey, 1590-2 ,: (5) At the Castle, in Holborn, over against Ely House, 1593; (6) The Castle, in Salisbury Court, 1594-8; (7) In the Temple (a secret press), 1595. Son of Humphrey Ward of Ryton, Salop, husbandman. Apprentice to Thomas Marsh { MARSH, Thomas ( - 1589) ‹ LBT 08053 › }, stationer of London, for nine years from March 25th, 1566 [Arber, i. 291]. Roger Ward made his first entry in the Registers on July 8th, 1577 [Arber, ii. 316]. This printer is chiefly remembered as the most persistent and violent of those who agitated against the privileged printers. He is referred to as "a man without all government" and as "a most dangerous person." He succeeded John Wolf { WOLFE, John ‹ LBT 07327 › } as the leader of the malcontents, and his boldest feat was the printing of ten thousand copies of the A B C and Little Catechism, for which John Day { DAY, John (1522 - 1584) ‹ LBT 07316 › } held the exclusive privilege. Ward obtained the paper from Abraham Newman { NEWMAN, Abraham ‹ LBT 00134 › } and Thomas Man { MAN, Thomas ( - 1625) ‹ LBT 07630 › }. He bribed one of Thomas Purfoot's { PURFOOT, Thomas (1518 - ) ‹ LBT 08282 › } apprentices to supply him with type from that printer's office, and he further employed a Frenchman living in Blackfriars to copy John Day's mark [Arber, ii. 753, etc.]. For this offence he was imprisoned in Ludgate. Again in 1585 he was committed to the Counter in Woodstreet for disorderly printing, and his printing materials were seized [Arber, i. 510; ii. 39]. In the following year on October 17th the Wardens found him printing Albion's England of which they seized three heaps, and Lily's Grammar (Francis Flower's patent) in octavo, of which they seized the first leaf; formes were found ready set for printing Day's Catechisme and for prymers, psalters and other books, and upon that occasion they seized three presses [Herbert, p.1190]. In 1590 Ward was discovered with a secret press on the Bankside in Southwark, where he printed The Sermon of Repentance and the Grammar in octavo. This press he removed to Hammersmith, where it was seized and defaced [Arber, i. 546]. In 1591 he pawned a press and letters with the Company, who lent him £12 10s000. on them. Finally in 1595 he was discovered to have set up another secret press in the Temple, at which he was printing Primers. Meanwhile he was carrying on a legitimate business as a printer in various parts of London between 1577 and 1595. The date of his death is unknown, but in March, 1598, his widow {Helen WARDE, Helen ‹ LBT 03198 › } presented an apprentice [Arber, ii. 224].
