Sir Francis Clare Ford (4 June 1828 – 31 January 1899) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

diplomat from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. 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 a ...

, London, and was the son of writer

Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel ''The Sportswriter'' and its sequels, ''Independence Day'', ''The Lay of the Land'' and ''Let Me Be Frank With You'', and the ...

and his wife, Harriet. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the 4th Light Dragoons. However, he left the army in 1851, entered the diplomatic service, and became Secretary of Legation at

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where he was acting chargé d'affaires in 1867–1868. In 1871 he was appointed Secretary of Embassy at St Petersburg and in 1872 was transferred to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He represented the British government in 1875–77 at Halifax before the

Halifax Fisheries Commission The Halifax Fisheries Commission was a joint international tribunal created by the Governments of the United Kingdom and the United States in 1877 under Articles 22 and 23 of the Treaty of Washington (1871). The purpose of the Commission was to det ...

, by decision of which $5,500,000 was awarded to

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for superior advantages obtained by the

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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 Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

also. Ford was afterward appointed to similar posts at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

and at

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. 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 fisheries question. In 1892, he was transferred to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and in 1893 to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. His services to British diplomacy won for him frequent official recognition, including appointment to the Privy Council in 1888. Dead in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, he is buried in the cimetière de l'Ouest ( Boulogne-Billancourt).

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 The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts".

, 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