Mary Ward (née King; 27 April 1827 – 31 August 1869) was an Irish naturalist, astronomer, microscopist, author, and artist. She was killed when she fell under the wheels of an experimental steam car built by her cousins. As the event occurred in 1869, she is the first person known to have been killed by a motor vehicle.
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Personal life
She was born Mary King in Ballylin near present-day Ferbane, County Offaly, on 27 April 1827, the youngest child of the Reverend Henry King and his wife Harriette. She and her sisters were educated at home, by a governess, as were most girls at the time. However, her education was slightly different from the norm because she was of a renowned scientific family. She was interested in nature from an early age, and by the time she was three years old she was collecting insects.
On 6 December 1854, she married Henry Ward of Castle Ward, County Down, who in September 1881, over twelve years after her death, succeeded to the title of Viscount Bangor. They had three sons and five daughters, including Maxwell Ward, 6th Viscount Bangor.
Scientific career
Ward was a keen amateur astronomer, sharing this interest with her cousin, William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse. Lord Rosse built the Leviathan of Parsonstown, a reflecting telescope with a six-foot mirror which remained the world's largest until 1917. Ward was a frequent visitor to Lord Rosse's residence at Birr Castle, producing sketches of each stage of the process. Along with photographs made by Rosse's wife Mary Rosse, Ward's sketches were used to aid in the restoration of the telescope.