A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
As family historians and genealogists, we rely heavily on the information we find in official records – birth, death, and marriage certificates, church records, immigration records, newspapers, and so on. If we are lucky, the words in these records are precise, accurate, and consistent, helping us trace our family back in time. But sometimes the information is incomplete or conflicting, and we hit a brick wall – as happened for a 4th cousin of mine.
Rhonda and I share a 3xG grandfather and have been sharing research and helping each other out for some years. While looking into another of her 3xG grandfathers, John Ward, she hit a brick wall.
John Ward arrived in Australia around 1850 with his wife Charlotte and their five children. The family lived near Ballarat in Victoria, and four more children were born before John passed away in 1883.[1]
John Ward (1813-1883)
Patrick McGrath et al, "The Story of Browns and Scarsdale", Scarsdale Old Boys Reunion, 1912, p. 49
Despite some conflicting information in some of the records pertaining to John, Rhonda had discovered that John had been born around 1813 in Chittagong in India, and that his father – also John Ward – had been a Lieutenant Colonel with the British East India Company.[2] The only mention of John’s mother was on his death certificate from 1883, and her name was noted as Margaret.[3]
Try as she might, Rhonda could not find any information about John’s mother. No marriage record for Lieutenant Colonel John Ward could be located, and the birth records of John and his sisters Elizabeth and Margaret in India were not very enlightening. Elizabeth’s baptism record in 1813 refers only to her father, as does Margaret’s (1822).[4] The birth record for both Margaret (1817) and John (1813) refer to ‘the Lady of Lieut. Ward’.[5]
Always up for solving a mystery, I volunteered to do some digging for Rhonda to see if we could unearth any further information about John Ward’s mother.
I found a family tree on Ancestry that included John Ward, indicating that his parents were Lieutenant Colonel John Ward and Noonah. This was new and different information, and while I never trust a family tree on Ancestry without validating the data, it can be a fantastic resource for connecting with fellow family historians who might have a direct link to your person of interest. I reached out to the owner of this tree and hit the jackpot!
WW’s family descended from John Ward’s sister, Elizabeth, and like so many fellow researchers, they were incredibly generous with their time and knowledge.
I was very fortunate and grateful that WW shared some excerpts from Lieutenant Colonel John Ward’s diaries from his time in India, which provided a fascinating and very human perspective on the day-to-day experiences of an officer in the East India Company in the early 1800s.
WW also shared some handwritten stories that really brought the Ward family to life.
The words in the stories and the diary were a gold mine of information, but it was a small picture that revealed so much more about Lieutenant Colonel John Ward and his Lady.
The Picture
Measuring 8.5 cm x 3.5 cm, the picture is a watercolour miniature painted on paper and framed in a simple wooden and red velvet frame. The image is of a young lady with short, curling dark hair and dark brown eyes, wearing a white dress, an orange shawl, and a multistranded string of red beads.
Reverse of portrait miniature of Noonah, Henry Collen, 1819. Used with permission.
A handwritten note on the reverse of the miniature reads: ‘The first miniature painted from nature by H Collen at Mr G Hayter’s. 1819. 78 Wimpole Street London’.
This miniature has been handed down through the generations in WW’s family for as long as anyone can remember and is known as a portrait of Noonah, wife of John Ward.
I had so many questions. Who was Noonah? What was she doing in London in 1819? Who were H Collen and Mr G Hayter? Why did H Collen paint Noonah’s portrait?
Noonah, Henry Collen, 1819. Used with permission.
The Sitter
Noonah was the mother of Lieutenant Colonel John Ward’s three children, Elizabeth, John, and Margaret, however it is unlikely that she and John were officially married. It was common for officers in the East India Company to form lasting familial relationships with Indian women, and in his Will, John refers to his “reputed son John Ward” and does not refer to a wife.[6] Similarly, in the Will of John’s mother Joanna Ward, John’s three children are referred to as “the reputed children of my son John”.[7]
Whether or not there was an official marriage, John considered Noonah and their children his family and refers to them travelling with him in a diary entry dated 22 December 1814.
No direct reference to Noonah has been found in any official record, and all that is known of her comes from the family stories and traditions of descendants - and what we can learn from her miniature portrait.
The Artists
Sir George Hayter (1792-1871) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hayter
Sir George Hayter (1792-1871) trained at the Royal Academy and became a “portrait and historical painter to the queen” when Victoria acceded to the throne in 1837. He studied in Rome from 1816 to 1819 and, upon his return, resided at 78 Wimpole St.[8]
Henry Collen (1797-1879) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Collen
Henry Collen (1798-1879) was a miniaturist whose works can be found in the National Portrait Gallery in London and the Royal Collection Trust.[9] He was trained by Sir George Hayter and won a silver medal from the Royal Academy in 1821.[10] Works by Collen have frequently been auctioned by various Auction Houses in London.
Although not an exhaustive list, I have identified 45 known works by Henry Collen, the earliest of which is dated 1820. It is of an officer with brown curling hair and side whiskers wearing a scarlet coat.[11] The style of the portrait echoes that of Noonah’s miniature (1819), and I can’t help wondering if it may be a miniature of Lieutenant Colonel John Ward.
An officer with brown curling hair and side whiskers, wearing scarlet coat, H. Collen, 1820. Could this be Lieutenant Colonel John Ward?
A Picture Paints A Thousand Words….and raises lots of questions!
The obvious questions were: What was Noonah doing in London in 1819, why was she at the residence of George Hayter in Wimpole St, and why did Henry Collen paint her?
From John Ward’s diary entry dated 22 January 1814, we know Noonah was in India that year.
Army records indicate that Lieutenant Colonel John Ward was still in India in 1819, so Noonah travelled to England without him.[12]
A clue as to why Noonah was in England at this time can be found in a family story that says that John’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was sent to England around 1820 to be raised by her Aunt Elizabeth Simpson (John’s sister). It’s also likely that her siblings John and Margaret joined her. Perhaps Noonah accompanied the children back to England?
If accompanying her children to England explains her presence in the country in 1819, it doesn’t explain why she was at George Hayter’s residence in London, and why Henry Collen painted her.
I spent some time trying to find a connection between George Hayter or Henry Collen and Lieutenant Colonel John Ward. While there were some tantalising possibilities, I could not find a definitive link.
Henry Collen’s son, Sir Edwin Henry Hayter Collen (1843-1911), became a British Indian Army officer.[13] While this was many decades after Collen painted Noonah, it suggests that links with the British Army in India could have some significance.
John’s sister Elizabeth (who raised Noonah’s eldest daughter) had married David Simpson, a Freemason.[14] Although searches of Freemason records online do not reveal that Collen or Hayter were Freemasons at the time, perhaps there was a connection through Freemasonry. George Hayter did move in the upper echelons of London society.
I also investigated the lives of Elizabeth Simpson’s children, who were of a similar age to Henry Collen. However, I could find no intersection between their lives and that of Henry Collen.
Even though I have been unable to unearth the reason why Henry Collen painted Noonah’s portrait, I like to think there is someone out there who knows the story of why a beautiful young Indian woman was painted by an artist who would become so renowned.
What became of Noonah?
Did she stay in England or return to India?
Lieutenant Colonel John Ward retired and returned to England around 1832, and there is no indication that Noonah was with him. In fact, family tradition has it that John married not long after his return (although no evidence of this has yet been found).
I wondered whether, if she had remained in England, Noonah might have lived with one of her children or perhaps even John; however, no entries in the 1841 census returns are likely to be her.
It seems Noonah’s fate will remain a mystery…….
It is such a little thing, that miniature watercolour. Yet, in the absence of words in official records, it offers a glimpse into the story of a young Indian woman who perhaps met and fell in love with a British officer and bore him three children. She travelled to England and moved in rarefied circles, if only briefly. She was painted by a young artist who would later become renowned as a royal portraitist who painted Princess Victoria and has works in both the National Portrait Gallery in London and the Royal Collection.
A picture can indeed paint a thousand words.
References
[1] Death certificate of John Ward, 18 January 1883, Registry of Births, Death & Marriages Victoria, Department of Justice, Victoria, Australia, 3380/1883.
[2] Marriage record for John Ward and Charlotte Ward, 7 July 1837, St George the Martyr Parish Register, Southwark, London, England, Ancestry.com, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932, accessed 6 April 2021; Birth certificate of Alice Ward, 4 April 1862, Registry of Births, Death & Marriages Victoria, Department of Justice, Victoria, Australia, 11090/1862.
[3] Death certificate of John Ward.
[4] Baptism record of Elizabeth Ward, 24 December 1813, Presidency of Bengal Parish Register, Fort William, Bengal, India, N-1-9, Folio 114, findmypast.co.uk, British India Office Births & Baptisms, https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=BL%2FBIND%2F005136986%2F00066&parentid=BL%2FBIND%2FB%2F80324, accessed 9 April 2021, Baptism record of Maria Margaret Ward, 15 September 1822, Presidency of Bengal Parish Register, Fort William, Bengal, India, N-1-12, Folio 49, findmypast.co.uk, British India Office Births & Baptisms, https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=BL%2FBIND%2FB%2F87094, accessed 20 April 2021.
[5] Birth registration index of unnamed Ward, 30 July 1817, East India Registry, Bengal Presidency, India Office, British Library, http://indiafamily.bl.uk/ui/FullDisplay.aspx?RecordId=014-000357445; Birth registration index of unnamed male Ward, 30 November 1813, East India Registry, Bombay Presidency, Families in British India Society, https://search.fibis.org/bin/aps_detail.php?id=72254.
[6] Will of John Ward died 22 May 1842, England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, Ancestry.com, accessed 6 April 2021.
[7] Will of Joanna Ward, England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, Ancestry.com, accessed 6 April 2021.
[8] The Dictionary of National Biography - Volume 1-22, p. 303, London Oxford University Press, 1921-1922; Royal Academy, “George Hayter, 78 Wimpole St, to G. A. Ellis,” https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/archive/george-hayter-78-wimpole-st-to-g-a-ellis, accessed 21 April 2024.
[9] National Portrait Gallery, “Henry Collen (1798-1879), Painter, mezzotinter and photographer,” https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp06806/henry-collen?search=sas&sText=henry+collen, accessed 21 April 2024; Royal Collection Trust, “Henry Collen (1798-1879),” https://www.rct.uk/collection/search#/page/1, accessed 21 April 2024.
[10] National Portrait Gallery, “Henry Collen,” https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp06806/henry-collen, accessed 25 July 2021.
[11] https://www.artnet.com/artists/henry-collen/an-officer-with-brown-curling-hair-and-side-IQoyzSCA_lvkXa5y5lnCgQ2
[12] Major V. C. P. Hodson, List of the Officers of the Bengal Army, 1758-1834, Part IV, Phillimore & Co. Ltd., London, 1947, https://www.indianculture.gov.in/list-officers-bengal-army-1758-1834-part-iv.
[13] The Dictionary of National Biography - Second Supplement Volume 1, Digitized book, London Oxford University Press, 1912, https://archive.org/details/pt1dictionaryofn02leesuoft/page/382/mode/2up?q=collen.
[14] Marriage record for Elizabeth Ward and David Simpson, 21 March 1793, St Andrew Parish Register, Holborn, London, England, Ancestry.com, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932, accessed 6 April 2021; Entry for David Simpson, Register of Members, London, vol I, Fols 1-597, 19 March 1792, England, United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921, Ancestry, accessed 21 April 2024.