Leonard/Len Ward

[Gluben]

Does anyone have any more information on Leonard (or Len) Ward?

https://www.lambiek.net/artists/w/ward_len.htm

He did a large amount of comic strips and artwork for Charles Buchan's Football Monthly and Raich Carter's Soccer Star in the early 1950s, the short-lived School Cap magazine in 1953, and then later became the first art editor at TV Times magazine when it launched in 1955 for Associated Rediffusion in London. He often went by Len Ward, Nelward or simply Ward.

[jim244]

Does anyone have any more information on Leonard (or Len) Ward?

https://www.lambiek.net/artists/w/ward_len.htm

He did a large amount of comic strips and artwork for Charles Buchan's Football Monthly and Raich Carter's Soccer Star in the early 1950s, the short-lived School Cap magazine in 1953, and then later became the first art editor at TV Times magazine when it launched in 1955 for Associated Rediffusion in London. He often went by Len Ward, Nelward or simply Ward.

Hi.
I am an Arsenal fan and Charlie Buchans' football mag I am aware of....
I think Len was a Fleet Street cartoonist that was Birmingham based,died in 1963.
He did commissioned work for various publications plus portraits/paintings.
Sorry,you probably know this already.

[jim244]

BTW:Your link suggests he didn't die in 1963 (lol just read link).
Perhaps somebody else on this forum could clarify this issue?

[Gluben]

BTW:Your link suggests he didn't die in 1963 (lol just read link).
Perhaps somebody else on this forum could clarify this issue?

That's a different Leonard Ward, who was born on 27th September 1887 in Aston, Warwickshire and died on 3rd September 1963 in Aberdovey, Wales. He lived in Moseley, Birmingham for most of his life and was the managing director of Ward Bros. Ltd, a manufacturing jewellers. I made that same mistake too initially!

This is definitely a separate Leonard Ward as he was a freelance artist into the 80s. I know that he worked for a Brentwood printing company as late as 1987 as he was photographed in the Brentwood Gazette. Unfortunately, the owners of the company have since passed on and nobody else knows of him. I've been joining the dots via Ancestry as a best guess and I think he had a daughter called Susan, born in 1951 in Hackney where he lived at the time.

[jim244]

BTW:Your link suggests he didn't die in 1963 (lol just read link).
Perhaps somebody else on this forum could clarify this issue?

That's a different Leonard Ward, who was born on 27th September 1887 in Aston, Warwickshire and died on 3rd September 1963 in Aberdovey, Wales. He lived in Moseley, Birmingham for most of his life and was the managing director of Ward Bros. Ltd, a manufacturing jewellers. I made that same mistake too initially!

This is definitely a separate Leonard Ward as he was a freelance artist into the 80s. I know that he worked for a Brentwood printing company as late as 1987 as he was photographed in the Brentwood Gazette. Unfortunately, the owners of the company have since passed on and nobody else knows of him. I've been joining the dots via Ancestry as a best guess and I think he had a daughter called Susan, born in 1951 in Hackney where he lived at the time.

Very interesting, worthy of more investigation.

[Gluben]

BTW:Your link suggests he didn't die in 1963 (lol just read link).
Perhaps somebody else on this forum could clarify this issue?

That's a different Leonard Ward, who was born on 27th September 1887 in Aston, Warwickshire and died on 3rd September 1963 in Aberdovey, Wales. He lived in Moseley, Birmingham for most of his life and was the managing director of Ward Bros. Ltd, a manufacturing jewellers. I made that same mistake too initially!

This is definitely a separate Leonard Ward as he was a freelance artist into the 80s. I know that he worked for a Brentwood printing company as late as 1987 as he was photographed in the Brentwood Gazette. Unfortunately, the owners of the company have since passed on and nobody else knows of him. I've been joining the dots via Ancestry as a best guess and I think he had a daughter called Susan, born in 1951 in Hackney where he lived at the time.

Very interesting, worthy of more investigation.

I'm now 99% certain I have the right man. In later life, he lived in Whittlesford near Cambridge and died in August 2001. His wife Betty may still be alive but not sure.

[jim244]

That's a different Leonard Ward, who was born on 27th September 1887 in Aston, Warwickshire and died on 3rd September 1963 in Aberdovey, Wales. He lived in Moseley, Birmingham for most of his life and was the managing director of Ward Bros. Ltd, a manufacturing jewellers. I made that same mistake too initially!

This is definitely a separate Leonard Ward as he was a freelance artist into the 80s. I know that he worked for a Brentwood printing company as late as 1987 as he was photographed in the Brentwood Gazette. Unfortunately, the owners of the company have since passed on and nobody else knows of him. I've been joining the dots via Ancestry as a best guess and I think he had a daughter called Susan, born in 1951 in Hackney where he lived at the time.

Very interesting, worthy of more investigation.

I'm now 99% certain I have the right man. In later life, he lived in Whittlesford near Cambridge and died in August 2001. His wife Betty may still be alive but not sure. I think his daughter sadly died in 1979 aged just 27.

Fascinating research and if you are right then I wonder if anyone in Whittlesford may remember him or that indeed his wife is still alive?

[Gluben]

Very interesting, worthy of more investigation.

I'm now 99% certain I have the right man. In later life, he lived in Whittlesford near Cambridge and died in August 2001. His wife Betty may still be alive but not sure. I think his daughter sadly died in 1979 aged just 27.

Fascinating research and if you are right then I wonder if anyone in Whittlesford may remember him or that indeed his wife is still alive?

I think his wife lived there as recently as 2013 and was born in 1929, but she no longer lives there and may well have passed away; she'd be in her mid-90s now. I did ask the Whittlesford parish clerk but she couldn't find any other records. I'm sure it's the right man though.

[Gluben]

I've found him! It was indeed the right man, Leonard William Henry Ward (1924-2001). His wife, Betty, sadly passed away in 2021 at the age of 92, but his daughters, Sally and Susan, are still around and they contacted me out of the blue after seeing this info, which was amazing (although I had to apologise profusely to Susan as I incorrectly stated that she died in 1979)!

His work was very prolific and he kept a lot of cut-outs from the Daily Mirror, and he had his own company, Personal Arts, in later life which he used to do freelance cartoons for greeting cards, most notably Rainbow Cards in Arlington. I was sent a caricature of him done by fellow cartoonist "Spark" (aka Stanley Hugh Parker, 1909-1981) which I will post here if given permission.

[jim244]

I've found him! It was indeed the right man, Leonard William Henry Ward (1924-2001). His wife, Betty, sadly passed away in 2021 at the age of 92, but his daughters, Sally and Susan, are still around and they contacted me out of the blue after seeing this info, which was amazing (although I had to apologise profusely to Susan as I incorrectly stated that she died in 1979)!

His work was very prolific and he kept a lot of cut-outs from the Daily Mirror, and he had his own company, Personal Arts, in later life which he used to do freelance cartoons for greeting cards, most notably Rainbow Cards in Arlington. I was sent a caricature of him done by fellow cartoonist "Spark" (aka Stanley Hugh Parker, 1909-1981) which I will post here if given permission.

MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS !!!!
Well done Sir, excellent news !!!

[Gluben]

Thank you! I'm still wondering about Scherzo though. They didn't know who he was, although Len did have a Christmas card showing the TV Times Christmas Extra cover from 1958, but weirdly it was a work in progress as it didn't have a signature on it.

If anyone sees this and Scherzo was their father or grandfather, please, please let me know!

[jim244]

Thank you! I'm still wondering about Scherzo though. They didn't know who he was, although Len did have a Christmas card showing the TV Times Christmas Extra cover from 1958, but weirdly it was a work in progress as it didn't have a signature on it.

If anyone sees this and Scherzo was their father or grandfather, please, please let me know!

This gets stranger as it continues....
Why doesn't Len know? Who was this mysterious chap?
I think the information in TV Times may be deliberately misleading...
If he SAYS he comes from the North then he probably comes from the South.
Obviously a very private man and I am not convinced that it isn't the cartoonist that became a jazz musician.
The art is similar but not conclusive, however styles evolve.

[Gluben]

Thank you! I'm still wondering about Scherzo though. They didn't know who he was, although Len did have a Christmas card showing the TV Times Christmas Extra cover from 1958, but weirdly it was a work in progress as it didn't have a signature on it.

If anyone sees this and Scherzo was their father or grandfather, please, please let me know!

This gets stranger as it continues....
Why doesn't Len know? Who was this mysterious chap?
I think the information in TV Times may be deliberately misleading...
If he SAYS he comes from the North then he probably comes from the South.
Obviously a very private man and I am not convinced that it isn't the cartoonist that became a jazz musician.
The art is similar but not conclusive, however styles evolve.

I really doubt it's Humphrey Lyttelton of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue fame somehow. Also, I think Len maybe did know, but he didn't really discuss his work with his daughters, and since his wife passed away in 2021, there's no real chance to find out.

[jim244]

Thank you! I'm still wondering about Scherzo though. They didn't know who he was, although Len did have a Christmas card showing the TV Times Christmas Extra cover from 1958, but weirdly it was a work in progress as it didn't have a signature on it.

If anyone sees this and Scherzo was their father or grandfather, please, please let me know!

This gets stranger as it continues....
Why doesn't Len know? Who was this mysterious chap?
I think the information in TV Times may be deliberately misleading...
If he SAYS he comes from the North then he probably comes from the South.
Obviously a very private man and I am not convinced that it isn't the cartoonist that became a jazz musician.
The art is similar but not conclusive, however styles evolve.

I really doubt it's Humphrey Lyttelton of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue fame somehow. Also, I think Len maybe did know, but he didn't really discuss his work with his daughters, and since his wife passed away in 2021, there's no real chance to find out.

To Michelangelo,
His Holiness wants the ceiling plain magnolia emulsion.
LOL YES , in reality it's unlikely.