Is it possible to be someone's "ward" if your parents are still alive?

Question

I'm trying to untangle a cluster of Morrises liveing in Barbados and New Jersey in the 17th century.  Lewis Morris of Passage Point is the son of Thomas Morris of Barbados and the ward "from infancy" of Col. Lewis Morris of Barbados, a prominent Quaker.  Unsourced family trees link Lewis of PP to a certain Thomas & Sarah Morris of St. Michael's Parish Barbados who are alive and cheerfully cranking out children well after Lewis of PP's birth.

Now, I always understood that a "ward" was necessarily an orphan, or at least someone whose parents were unable to care for them.  (Maybe I got this impression from Batman and Gilbert & Sullivan operettas.)  Could this be a something like a godparent relationship?

Answer 1

In short, yes, a child can be a ward while parents are alive under various circumstances. At what age was he when you see the “ward from infancy” notation? This would generally indicate death of the parents or perhaps imprisonment. In proper context this generally infers a legal status. Edited to add I have seen this in cases of economic hardship.

I’ll look at this further later but is seems some of the info is coming from secondary sources absent documentation.

Comments

I did a little digging, and the origin of the "from infancy" term is on p. 109 here: Lewis Morris, Anglo-American statesman, ca. 1613-1691 : Smith, Samuel Stelle : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive and comes from a 1689 statement from the younger Lewis upon receiving land from the elder Lewis.  However the term "ward" is not used in the quote.  It seems to have been introduced by Smith to describe the relationship. 

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Do you know what the familial relationship is between Thomas of Barbados and the Colonel? I see the term "relation" but there is no actual connection presently found in WikiTree.

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No idea unfortunately.  The Daniel Weeks book says that Lewis Morris of Passage Point is the "cousin" of Col. Lewis Morris' nephew also named Lewis Morris, but they don't appear to be first cousins.

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Consistent with what T Stanton said, guardians can be appointed for children, and occasionally for adults, for a variety of reasons unrelated to taking care of their ward. Historically, it appears that their most important role was safeguarding the ward's financial interests (for example, a child's legacy from a deceased parent or grandparent).

Recently I puzzled over a situation where a man was appointed guardian for his own daughter (while both of her parents were living). As near as I could tell, he was supposed to protect her financial interests from her adopted brother: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1503153/adoption-and-guardianship-in-1870s-1880s-massachusetts

Answer 2

Guardians are appointed for those who are legally incompetent, known as wards. Minors are legally incompetent under the law as are some adults who are affected with certain conditions. Assets of minors who have parents, or adults with guardians, can be managed through conservatorships—sometimes separate persons or entities apart from the guardians are appointed as conservators. The terms are often confused so that the term “guardian” might really mean a conservator for one’s own minor child (known as a conservatee).