Hannah Ward Barron

Hannah Ward Barron (14 July 1829 – 10 November 1898) was a successful businesswoman, hotel proprietor and landowner in New Zealand.

Biography She was born in Cork, County Cork, Ireland, on 14 July 1829, the oldest daughter and third child of Elizabeth Lynch and shopkeeper Thomas Dorney. Initially, she was given the first name Joanna, but soon she chose Hannah instead. In Ireland, she learned how to read, write, sing, and play piano and she was raised a devout Roman Catholic, "which sustained her all her life."

Hannah survived the Irish famine (1845-1849) and married William Ward "probably on 7 October 1850," in Cork, Ireland. Only a few years later, William Ward set out for London and then Melbourne, Australia, arriving in August 1853. Soon thereafter, while pregnant and carrying two infants, Hannah followed him, arriving on 24 October 1853. The young family lived in the Melbourne area, but William "did not prosper."

Hannah died 10 November 1898 in the Bluff home of her daughter, Mary (Mina) Eliza Frances. She was survived by Mary and her two sons William Thomas Ward and Joseph Ward (1856–1930), who was active in politics and became the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912, and again from 1928 to 1930.