Ward, Nathaniel (c 1578–1652)

English Protestant religious leader. He practised law and entered the Anglican ministry in 1618. He served a London parish from 1624–33, but was dismissed for nonconformism, after which he emigrated to Massachusetts, and in 1634 accepted the pastorate of Agawam (now Ipswich). In the late 1630s he helped compile the first code of laws for Massachusetts. Returning to England in the mid-1640s, he held the pastorate of Shenfield until his death. A member of a notable Puritan family, Ward was born in Haverhill, England. He studied at Emmanuel College in Boston, Massachusetts, and Cambridge University, England.