 He was High Sheriff of West Sussex (1985–86), and a Deputy Lieutenant from 1981.Thereafter he was Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex (1994–99), having been Vice Lord-Lieutenant of the county from 1990 to 1994.Ward was president of the South of England Agricultural Society (1994–95), Governor of the Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade (1979–86), and Patron of the Chichester Cathedral Trust in 1995.