Seth Ward was Bishop of Salisbury from 1667 to 1689. It’s probably fair to say that he was one of our most impressive Bishops.

He was born in Buntingford in Hertfordshire, where there are the Bishop Seth Wards’s almshouses [1]. Prior to becoming Salisbury’s Bishop he was the Bishop of Exeter, and before becoming Bishop of Exeter he was a Professor of Astronomy at Oxford. This would perhaps now be seen as an unusual background for a Bishop. He was also one of the original members of the Royal Society [2], and was a friend of Isaac Newton, Thomas Hobbes and Samuel Pepys. [3]

Within Salisbury, he employed Sir Christopher Wren to survey and recommend repairs to the Cathedral. The design of the College of Matrons has also been attributed to Wren [4]. This is uncertain, but the College was definitely established by Seth Ward. The College of Matrons is the building on your left as you enter The Close from the High Street – it’s worth a look if you’re visiting Salisbury.

Seth Ward is buried in the South Transept of the Cathedral.

Seth Ward Drive

As far as I can think, Seth Ward Drive is the only example of a road being named with both a forename and a surname.

There are a couple of possible reasons for this.

First, the name ‘Seth Ward’ is about as short as you can get for a man’s full name.

Second, ‘Ward Drive’ either makes you think of hospitals, or war. ‘Ward Drive’ would sound much the same as ‘War Drive’.

Footnotes

1. Buntingford Almshouses Town Built Hospital Elderly Ward [↩]
2. Seth Ward – LoveToKnow 1911 [↩]
3. John Chandler, Salisbury – history around us, p61 [↩]
4. The history and antiquities of the Cathedral of Salisbury [↩]