Mary Ward was born Mary Winstanley in 1924 and trained as an architect at Liverpool School of Architecture where she was awarded a B.Arch. She was married to the architect Neville Ward (1922-1989), a fellow graduate of Liverpool School of Architecture. In 1948 they formed the partnership, Ward & Austin, with Frank Austin. The firm designed the façade of the Design Centre in Haymarket, London, in 1956, the interiors of the Sealink ferries, and the interiors of several cruise ships including the ‘Canberra’ and ‘Spirit of London’ for P&O and the ‘Oriana’ for Orient Line. In 1949 they furnished rooms for the Council of Industrial Design at the Ideal Home Exhibition at Olympia, London in 1949 and in 1951 furnished a country parlour and a town parlour in the Homes and Gardens pavilion, and designed a triangular table and three chairs for the Thameside Restaurant at the Festival of Britain South Bank exhibition. They also designed a stand for the National Wool Textile Export Corporation at the British Industries Fair in 1953 Following the retirement of Austin in 1972, the practice was re-named Ward Associates with Mary Ward, Dennis Taylor and Ron Cox as the associate members and with Neville Ward as head of the group.
Mary and Neville Ward were joint authors of at least two books - 'Living Rooms' (London: Macdonald\Council of Industrial Design, 1967) and 'Home in the Twenties and Thirties' (London: Ian Allan Ltd, 1978).
Mary Ward was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1948. She was also a Fellow of the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers (FSIAD)