On 28 March 1681 the king dissolved his third short parliament, and on 13 May the common council, by a narrow majority of fourteen, agreed to address the king, praying him to cause a parliament to meet, and continue to sit until due provision were made for the security of his majesty's person and his people. Ward, who sided with the opposition, had the unthankful task of presenting this address, and the first attempt to do so failed, the deputation being told to meet the king at Hampton Court on 19 May. When that day arrived the civic deputation were summarily dismissed. Ward, however, received a vote of thanks from the grand jury at the Old Bailey for the part he had taken in presenting the address. He received further thanks from the common hall on 24 June, and was desired to present another address to the king, assuring his majesty that the late address truly reflected the feeling of that assembly. This address, presented on 7 July, was received poorly, Ward and his colleagues being again told to mind their own business. The extreme Protestantism of the city, probably directed by Ward, had early in his mayoralty led to an additional inscription being engraved on the Monument to the Great Fire of London stating that the fire of London had been caused by the papists; and a further inscription to the same effect was ordered to be placed on the house in Pudding Lane where the fire began. Thomas Ward in his "England's Reformation" (1710, canto iv. p. 100), speaking of Titus Oates and the fabricated Popish Plot, wrote also against Sir Patience. The court party succeeded this year in turning their opponents out of the city lieutenancy, and the lord mayor lost his commission as a colonel of a regiment of the trained bands. At the close of his mayoralty Ward was succeeded by Sir John Moore, a partisan of the court, after the unusual resort to a poll. One of the final incidents in Ward's mayoralty was the resolution of the corporation to undertake the business of fire insurance on behalf of the citizens. Ward became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1682. On 19 May 1683 he was tried for perjury in connection with the action brought by James, Duke of York against Sir Thomas Pilkington for "scandalum magnatum". He was accused of having sworn that to the best of his remembrance he did not hear the words spoken which were said to be criminal. After much conflicting evidence he was found guilty and fled to Holland. During his exile abroad he was in constant communication with Thomas Papillon, the sheriff-elect of 1682, who had also been driven into exile.