William Ward / Betsy Ann Skipworth

The Ward family came from Lincolnshire, where several generations had lived in the villages of Scampton and Fiskerton very close to the city of Lincoln. William Ward was born in 1858 in Fiskerton, the fourth of seven children.

Betsy Ann Skipworth was born in 1859 in Halton Holegate, Lincolnshire, daughter to William Skipworth, an agricultural labourer whose family had been living in the Halton Holegate area for many generations.

The couple married in 1880 in Lincoln and had a total of three sons and two daughters who were twins, however one twin died at 1 day old. They lived and farmed in a small village near Horncastle, Lincolnshire called Woodhall Spa, a quaint Victorian village that is now designated a conservation area. One of their sons, Robert Ward, served in World War One and was killed in France in 1916.

Betsy Ward died in 1926 and was buried at Woodhall Spa. William Ward also died in Lincolnshire but his death date is unknown.