Oliver Frederick Ford (19 June 1925 – 17 October 1992) was an English

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...

er. He served as decorator to the

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also used to describe a number of ...

after receiving Royal Warrant in 1974. His other clients included the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim, Mrs Harry Oppenheimer,

Lord McAlpine Robert Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green (14 May 1942 – 17 January 2014) was a British businessman, politician and author who was an advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. McAlpine was descended from the McAlpine baronets ...

of West Green and

The Dorchester The Dorchester is a five-star luxury hotel on Park Lane and Deanery Street in London, to the east of Hyde Park. It is one of the world's most prestigious and expensive hotels. The Dorchester opened on 18 April 1931, and it still retains its ...

. He served in the Royal Air Force during World War II as a volunteer reserve, initially in signals, then in

air sea rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergency water landings as well as people w ...

. Ford attended

Arts University Bournemouth Arts University Bournemouth (abbreviated AUB) is a further and higher education university based in Poole, England, specialising in art, performance, design, and media. It was formerly known as The Arts University College at Bournemouth and The ...

where he studied the decorative arts. He headed the London office of Jansen Ltd, a French firm of decorators. He appeared as a castaway on the

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

programme ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...

'' on 5 March 1977. The surviving firm at the time of Ford's death, Oliver Ford, included a subsidiary, Howard Chairs. Bewley Court, the 14th-century home owned by Ford, has its own chapel and more than a dozen gardens; it is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building near

Lacock Lacock is a village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) south of the town of Chippenham, and about outside the Cotswolds area. The village is owned almost in its entirety by the National Trust a ...

in Wiltshire. As Ford left no heirs, Bewley Court was held by the Oliver Ford Charitable Trust, with proceeds donated to the mentally handicapped. By 1995 the Trust had ceased and was replaced by another registered charity, the Oliver Ford Foundation (also known as the Oliver Ford Will Trust) which in 2016 made donations to charities working in mental health and with children and young people, and made grants to students at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Horticultural Society and the

Furniture History Society The Furniture History Society (FHS), which was founded in 1964, is a registered charity in the United Kingdom Background The Furniture History Society is based in London, with close connections at the Victoria & Albert Museum. It was founded by ...

. Ford was born in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

(now

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

), and died at

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

Bibliography

References

1925 births 1992 deaths English interior designers Businesspeople from Bournemouth Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Alumni of Arts University Bournemouth {{design-bio-stub