Richard Charles Ward QC

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

 (28 July 1916 – 24 November 1977) was an Australian jurist and politician.

Ward was born in Kew

Kew, Victoria

Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....

 and attended Victoria Street School and Melbourne High School

Melbourne High School

Melbourne High School is a selective entry state school for boys in years 9 to 12 located in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra. Being a selective school, it is known mainly for its strong academic reputation...

 before studying law at the University of Melbourne

University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...

. Around 1938 he became a partner in a Darwin

Darwin, Northern Territory

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...

 legal practice, and in 1947 won election to the firstNorthern Territory Legislative Council

Northern Territory Legislative Council

The Northern Territory Legislative Council was the partly elected governing body of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1947 until its replacement by the fully elected Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 1974....

, although he did not stand for re-election in 1949. He spent some years in Adelaide before returning to the Northern Territory and the Legislative Council in 1956. In 1966 he was preselected to stand for the Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 in the federal seat

Division of Northern Territory

The Division of Northern Territory was an Australian Electoral Division in the Northern Territory. Throughout its existence, it was the only Division in the Territory....

 following John Nelson

John Nelson (Australian politician)

John Norman Nelson , known as Jock Nelson, was an Australian politician. Born in Bundaberg, Queensland, the son of politician Harold Nelson, he was educated at state schools in Darwin before becoming a jackeroo and goldminer, and later a bore contractor at Alice Springs. After serving in the...

's retirement, but he was defeated by Sam Calder

Sam Calder

Stephen Edward "Sam" Calder AM, OBE was a decorated World War II flying ace, member of the Australian House of Representatives, and founder of the Northern Territory Country Liberal Party, one of the more successful political parties in Australia’s history.Calder was born in Melbourne, Victoria...

 of the Country Party. He returned to the Legislative Council, winning the seat of Ludmilla, which he held until 1974.

In 1974 Ward was appointed to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory

Supreme Court of the Northern Territory

The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory is the superior court for the Australian Territory of the Northern Territory. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters...

. He died in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

in 1977 after a kidney collapse.