Sir Francis Clare Ford (4 June 1828 – 31 January 1899) was an English diplomat from London. Ford was born at was born at 32

Upper Brook Street Brook Street is an axial street in the exclusive central London district of Mayfair. Most of it is leasehold, paying ground rent to and seeking lease renewals from the reversioner, that since before 1800, has been the Grosvenor Estate. Named ...

, London, and was the son of writer Richard Ford and his wife, Harriet. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the

4th Light Dragoons Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. However, he left the army in 1851, entered the diplomatic service, and became Secretary of Legation at Washington, D.C., where he was acting

chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

in 1867–1868. In 1871 he was appointed Secretary of Embassy at

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and in 1872 was transferred to Vienna. He represented the British government in 1875–77 at Halifax before the Halifax Fisheries Commission, by decision of which $5,500,000 was awarded to Great Britain for superior advantages obtained by the United States in the Washington fisheries treaty of 1871. In 1878–1879 he was Minister to the Argentine Republic and during a portion of the time to Uruguay also. Ford was afterward appointed to similar posts at Rio de Janeiro and at Athens. In 1884 he became Minister (from 1887 Ambassador) to Spain; there, he acted as British commissioner in Paris in 1884 and 1885 to settle the

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

fisheries question. In 1892, he was transferred to the Ottoman Empire and in 1893 to Italy. His services to British diplomacy won for him frequent official recognition, including appointment to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1888. Dead in Paris, he is buried in the cimetière de l'Ouest (

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious Communes of France, commune in the Parisian area, located from its Kilometre zero, centre. It is a Subprefectures in ...

References

FORD, Rt Hon. Sir (Francis) Clare
Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007, accessed 20 June 2012 *Sir Francis Clare Ford, G.C.B., G.C.M.G. (obituary), ''The Times'', London, 1 February 1899, page 6 *

External links

* Album of views and customs of the province of Buenos Aires,1844-1878, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. Accession No. 2016.R.39. The album contains 77 photographs and 20 pencil tracings, compiled by the British diplomat Francis Clare Ford during his first posting to Buenos Aires in 1866. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Clare Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from Mayfair 1828 births 1899 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to Spain Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Brazil Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Argentina Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Uruguay Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Italy