WARD (Dr John), was the son of a dissenting minister, and born at London in 1679. He for some years kept a school in Tenter-alley, Moor-fields; but rendered himself so eminent in the study of antiquity, that in 1720 he was chosen professor of rhetoric in Gresham college: in 1723, during the presidency of Sir Isaac Newton, he was elected a fellow of the royal society; and in 1752 one of the vice-presidents, in which office he was continued to his death. He was elected one of the trustees of the British Museum in 1753, and died at Gresham college in 1758. The work for which he is best known, is his Lives of the Professors of Gresham College; which is a considerable addition to the history of learning in our country. His Lectures on Oratory were published after his death, in 2 vols 8vo.