Ned Ward

Ned Ward (1660 or 1667 – June 20, 1731), also known as Edward Ward, was a satirical writer and publican in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century based in London, England. His most famous work is The London Spy. Published in 18 monthly instalments starting in November 1698 it was described (by the author) as a "complete survey" of the London scene. It was first published in book form in 1703.

He was born in 1660 or 1667 in Oxfordshire and died in 1731. He was publican at the King's Head Tavern, next door to Gray's Inn, London from 1699.

His first publication was The Poets Ramble After Riches (1691). At least 70 publications of his are known including:

• The Wooden World Dissected - an unreliable account of the Royal Navy.
• Vulgus Britannicus.
• A Trip to Jamaica (1699) - broadsheet based on personal experience.
• Hudibras Redivivus (twelve monthly parts 1705-06) - a bitter attack on the Whig government of the day that resulted in the author being put in the pillory twice: at the Royal Exchange and Charing Cross.
• Satyrical Reflections on Clubs - which contains one of the first descriptions of homosexual clubs in London.

The New London Spy was later used as title of a book by Hunter Davies.

References

Ned Ward, The London Spy (1703). Edited by Kenneth Fenwick (1955). The Folio Society: London.

Ned Ward, The Second Volume of the Writings of the Author of The London-Spy (1706)

Howard W Troyer (1946) Ned Ward of Grubstreet; a study of sub-literary London in the eighteenth century.