He practised medicine in a poor area of the East End of London and took an interest in botany and entomology in spare time or when on vacation in Cobham, Kent.

John joined the Royal Navy in 1846 as an assistant surgeon,[4] serving with distinction on HMS Vengeance during the Crimean War, with the youngest son Richard having his own practice in Central London.

[5] His interest piqued, he saw that evaporated moisture condensed on the walls of the bottle during the day, and ran back down into the soil towards evening, maintaining a constant humidity.

[citation needed] Dr Ward delivered a lecture on his discovery of a way to preserve plants in 1854 to the Royal Society at the Chelsea Physic Garden.

[7] Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward died at St Leonards in Sussex and is buried in an unmarked grave in West Norwood Cemetery.