Sir Francis Clare Ford GCB, GCMG, PC (1828 – 31 January 1899) was an English diplomat.
The son of Richard Ford, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Fourth Light Dragoons. However, he left the army in 1851, entered the diplomatic service, and became Secretary of Legation at Washington, D.C., where he was acting charges d'affaires in 1867–1868. In 1871 he was appointed Secretary of Embassy at St. Petersburg and in 1872 was transferred to Vienna. He represented the British government in 1897 at Halifax before the International 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, in 1884–1885 was commissioner to settle the Newfoundland fisheries question, in 1892 was transferred to Constantinople and in 1893 to Rome. His services to British diplomacy won for him frequent official recognition, including appointment to the Privy Council in 1888.[1]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lionel Sackville-West |
Minister Plenipotentiary to Argentina 1878–1879 |
Succeeded by – |
| Preceded by – |
Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul-General to Uruguay 1879 |
Succeeded by Hon. Edmund Monson |
| Preceded by G. B. Mathew |
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Brazil 1879–1881 |
Succeeded by Edwin Corbett |
| Preceded by Sir Robert Morier |
Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to Spain (Ambassador to Spain from 1887) 1884–1892 |
Succeeded by Sir Henry Drummond Wolff |
| Preceded by Sir William Arthur White |
Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire 1891–1892 |
Succeeded by Sir Philip Currie |
| Preceded by The Lord Vivian |
Ambassador to Italy 1892–1898 |
Succeeded by Sir Philip Currie |