Francis Clare Ford

Francis Clare Ford (1828–1899) was born in London and spent much of his childhood in Spain. After a short military career he entered diplomacy as an unpaid attaché at Naples in 1852. Paid appointments followed at Lisbon and Stuttgart, then the secretaryship at Buenos Aires. His later career included commercial negotiations and service on international fisheries commissions. ¹

Ford took charge of the Washington mission after Sir Frederick Bruce died in September 1867. In a letter of 21 September he asked Secretary William Seward to conduct business with him pending his formal commission. Four days later he conveyed British thanks for an undertaking Bruce had secured: American representatives in Mexico would temporarily use their good offices for British subjects and other foreigners who lacked their own diplomatic representatives. ^{2, 3}

His South American service left a substantial visual record. In Buenos Aires in 1866 he assembled an album now held by the Getty Research Institute, containing photographs of the city and pampas, portraits of gauchos and Indigenous people, and tracings after León Pallière. He returned to Argentina in 1878 with responsibility for restoring British relations with Uruguay, subsequently representing Britain in both Buenos Aires and Montevideo. An appointment to Brazil followed in 1879. ⁴

Ford became minister at Madrid in 1884 and ambassador when that mission was raised in rank in 1887. His commercial work included the Anglo-French arrangement on Newfoundland fisheries signed in Paris on 14 November 1885. Ford and Edmund Burke Pennell joined the French commissioners in proposing rules for access, fishing operations, and disputes. Naval officers from the two countries would help investigate infringements and assess damage. The arrangement was expressly subject to the approval of both governments. ^{1, 5}

His transfer to Constantinople in 1892 was less successful. Historian G. R. Berridge describes a diplomat with extensive commercial experience but little preparation for Near Eastern affairs, whose work was hampered by poor health. Ford moved to Rome before the end of 1893, remained there until retirement in 1898, and died in Paris on 31 January 1899. ¹