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Rowland Ward
James Rowland Ward (12 May 1848 – 28 December 1912) was a British taxidermist and founder of the firm Rowland Ward Limited of Piccadilly, London. The company specialised in and was renowned for its taxidermy work on birds and big-game trophies, but it did other types of work as well. In creating many practical items from antlers, feathers, feet, skins, and tusks, the Rowland Ward company made fashionable items (sometimes known as Wardian furniture) from animal parts, such as zebra-hoof inkwells, antler furniture, and elephant-feet umbrella stands.
Rowland Ward was also a well-known publisher of natural history books and big-game hunting narratives. The most famous and enduring Rowland Ward Ltd. product is the Records of Big Game series of books, which started in 1892 and is now in its thirtieth edition (2020). These books contain measurements of game animals from all over the world and is the oldest such series of books in existence.
Even before Rowland's time, his family had been involved in taxidermy and natural history. According to the history of the Rowland Ward company by P. A. Morris, Rowland Ward's grandfather was a naturalist and dealer in animal skins. Edwin Henry Ward (1812–1878), Rowland Ward's father, was a well-known taxidermist in his day. Edwin H. Ward travelled with John James Audubon on his expeditions, and Ward collected and prepared the bird skins for the artist. These specimens were later used by Audubon in his epic The Birds of America.
Edwin H. Ward worked for a while on Oxford Street for Thomas Mutlow Williams who exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851. He then set up his own taxidermy shop in 1857 and received a royal warrant from Queen Victoria in 1870. Other distantly related Ward family members had taxidermy-related businesses as far away as New York and Australia. Edwin H. Ward and his wife Emily, née Hunt had two sons, Edwin Jr. and James Rowland. Both were trained in their father's business and were successful on their own, mounting heads for the British royal family as well the empress of Austria, among others. Edwin Jr. left the taxidermy business and eventually moved to the United States where he was involved in various ventures. Edwin Jr.'s son, Herbert Ward (1863–1919), served as a zoologist for Henry Morton Stanley during Stanley's 1887–1888 Emin Pasha Relief Expedition into the interior of then-unknown Africa.
Rowland Ward became the best-known taxidermist of the family. In his own book, A Naturalist's Life Study he said he left school at age fourteen to work in his father's shop. Rowland helped his father mount a hummingbird collection for John Gould. Early on, his focus was on sculpting and anatomically correct modelling. Rowland Ward was also a bronze sculptor of note.
By 1870, all three Wards operated taxidermy shops of their own in England. Then Edwin Jr. left for the United States and Edwin H. Ward died in 1878, and these events left Rowland Ward the only family member in the taxidermy business in England. In the later part of the nineteenth century, Rowland Ward located his shop at 167 Piccadilly, London. From far and wide, in newspapers and in casual speech throughout the Empire, his shop was famously referred to as "The Jungle."
Two forces in the nineteenth century came together to make Rowland Ward Ltd. an international powerhouse of taxidermy and book publishing: the global reach of the British Empire and the Industrial Revolution. The British Empire was composed of dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories that were ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. At its height, the British Empire was the largest in history and, for over a century it was the foremost global power. Its apex occurred during the lifetime of James Rowland Ward. At the end of World War I, the British Empire held sway over about 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time. The Empire covered more than 33,700,000 km sq. (13,012,000 sq. miles), almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area . . . and Rowland Ward was not only known as the taxidermist to the Empire's rich and powerful, but Rowland Ward Ltd. was the only organisation to keep extensive records of the trophies of the Empire's elites as well as dignitaries from other nations.
The Industrial Revolution had created enormous new wealth, and that revolution started in Britain. The industries founded in Great Britain generated tremendous fortunes for the owners of the newly formed industries. These fortunes created a new class of British sportsmen who ventured out over the world and brought back hunting trophies as well as natural history specimens for public and private museums. Rowland Ward Ltd. thrived as a result. The company's reputation spread, and soon Rowland Ward was receiving commissions from all over Europe to prepare museum specimens. Famous sportsmen from as far away as Russia brought their trophies to Rowland Ward Ltd. In addition, Rowland Ward Ltd. helped many museums and private collections acquire specimens.
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Rowland Ward
James Rowland Ward (12 May 1848 – 28 December 1912) was a British taxidermist and founder of the firm Rowland Ward Limited of Piccadilly, London. The company specialised in and was renowned for its taxidermy work on birds and big-game trophies, but it did other types of work as well. In creating many practical items from antlers, feathers, feet, skins, and tusks, the Rowland Ward company made fashionable items (sometimes known as Wardian furniture) from animal parts, such as zebra-hoof inkwells, antler furniture, and elephant-feet umbrella stands.
Rowland Ward was also a well-known publisher of natural history books and big-game hunting narratives. The most famous and enduring Rowland Ward Ltd. product is the Records of Big Game series of books, which started in 1892 and is now in its thirtieth edition (2020). These books contain measurements of game animals from all over the world and is the oldest such series of books in existence.
Even before Rowland's time, his family had been involved in taxidermy and natural history. According to the history of the Rowland Ward company by P. A. Morris, Rowland Ward's grandfather was a naturalist and dealer in animal skins. Edwin Henry Ward (1812–1878), Rowland Ward's father, was a well-known taxidermist in his day. Edwin H. Ward travelled with John James Audubon on his expeditions, and Ward collected and prepared the bird skins for the artist. These specimens were later used by Audubon in his epic The Birds of America.
Edwin H. Ward worked for a while on Oxford Street for Thomas Mutlow Williams who exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851. He then set up his own taxidermy shop in 1857 and received a royal warrant from Queen Victoria in 1870. Other distantly related Ward family members had taxidermy-related businesses as far away as New York and Australia. Edwin H. Ward and his wife Emily, née Hunt had two sons, Edwin Jr. and James Rowland. Both were trained in their father's business and were successful on their own, mounting heads for the British royal family as well the empress of Austria, among others. Edwin Jr. left the taxidermy business and eventually moved to the United States where he was involved in various ventures. Edwin Jr.'s son, Herbert Ward (1863–1919), served as a zoologist for Henry Morton Stanley during Stanley's 1887–1888 Emin Pasha Relief Expedition into the interior of then-unknown Africa.
Rowland Ward became the best-known taxidermist of the family. In his own book, A Naturalist's Life Study he said he left school at age fourteen to work in his father's shop. Rowland helped his father mount a hummingbird collection for John Gould. Early on, his focus was on sculpting and anatomically correct modelling. Rowland Ward was also a bronze sculptor of note.
By 1870, all three Wards operated taxidermy shops of their own in England. Then Edwin Jr. left for the United States and Edwin H. Ward died in 1878, and these events left Rowland Ward the only family member in the taxidermy business in England. In the later part of the nineteenth century, Rowland Ward located his shop at 167 Piccadilly, London. From far and wide, in newspapers and in casual speech throughout the Empire, his shop was famously referred to as "The Jungle."
Two forces in the nineteenth century came together to make Rowland Ward Ltd. an international powerhouse of taxidermy and book publishing: the global reach of the British Empire and the Industrial Revolution. The British Empire was composed of dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories that were ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. At its height, the British Empire was the largest in history and, for over a century it was the foremost global power. Its apex occurred during the lifetime of James Rowland Ward. At the end of World War I, the British Empire held sway over about 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time. The Empire covered more than 33,700,000 km sq. (13,012,000 sq. miles), almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area . . . and Rowland Ward was not only known as the taxidermist to the Empire's rich and powerful, but Rowland Ward Ltd. was the only organisation to keep extensive records of the trophies of the Empire's elites as well as dignitaries from other nations.
The Industrial Revolution had created enormous new wealth, and that revolution started in Britain. The industries founded in Great Britain generated tremendous fortunes for the owners of the newly formed industries. These fortunes created a new class of British sportsmen who ventured out over the world and brought back hunting trophies as well as natural history specimens for public and private museums. Rowland Ward Ltd. thrived as a result. The company's reputation spread, and soon Rowland Ward was receiving commissions from all over Europe to prepare museum specimens. Famous sportsmen from as far away as Russia brought their trophies to Rowland Ward Ltd. In addition, Rowland Ward Ltd. helped many museums and private collections acquire specimens.