| HISTORY/BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | The Honourable Frank Ford was born in Toronto, Ontario, on March 4, 1873 to James and Catherine (nee Poole) Ford. He received his early education in Ontario public schools and the Ontario Academy. He studied law at the Ontario Law School in Osgoode Hall, Toronto and received his Bachelor of Civil Law degree from Trinity University in Toronto. Ford articled with Read, Read and Knight in Toronto Ontario 1890 to 1893, and with McCarthy, Osler, Hoskin, and Creelman from 1893 to 1895. He obtained a Doctor of Civil Law degree from Toronto University and was called to the Ontario bar in 1895. From 1893 until 1897, Ford served as the Private Secretary to D'Alton McCarthy, Queen's Counsel of Toronto. Following McCarthy's death, Ford became a partner with Denton, Dods and Ford from 1897 until 1898. He then served as the Private Secretary to the Honourable A.S. Hardy, Premier and Attorney General of Ontario, and then to the Honourable J.M. Gibson, Attorney General of Ontario. In 1900 Ford became the Solicitor to the Treasury, and remained at this post until 1903. In 1906, he moved West, and was admitted to the bar of the Northwest Territories and later served as Deputy Attorney General for Saskatchewan until 1910; that year, he relocated, and joined the Edmonton firm of Emery, Newell, Ford, Bolton and Mount. He practiced with this firm until his appointment to the Supreme Court of Alberta, Trial Division at Edmonton on May 3, 1926. On November 3, 1936 he received a second appointment, this time to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. Throughout his career, three provinces named him King's Counsel: Saskatchewan in 1907, Ontario in 1910, and Alberta in 1913. He also served as Chancellor of the Edmonton Diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada from 1913 to 1933, and 1941 to 1954. He was Chancellor of the University of Alberta from 1941 to 1946. He received an honorary Doctor of Law degree (LL.D) from the University of Alberta in 1946 and from Laval University in 1947. Ford retired from the bench in 1954. He finished a Lieutenant Colonel of the Canadian Militia, 95th Saskatchewan Rifles, Regina, Saskatchewan. He was also Bencher of the Law Society of Saskatchewan from 1907 to 1910, and Bencher of the Law Society of Alberta from 1913 to 1926.
Frank Ford married Nora Elizabeth Sampson in Toronto in 1899. Together they had two sons and two daughters: Katherine (Link), Francis Armour, D'Alton M., and Mrs. F.K. Kerr. In 1920 Nora died. Ford remarried July 30, 1923 to Jane Duff Kerr of Edinburgh, Scotland. Frank Ford died on March 21, 1965.
(Francis) Armour Ford was the son of Frank Ford. Armour was born in Toronto On February 17, 1902. Armour attended public school in Saskatchewan from 1907-1911, Private High School in Edmonton Alberta from 1911-1916, and High School in Edmonton from 1916-1918. Armour began studying for a combined degree in Arts and Law in 1918 at the University of Alberta, and received his BA in 1922 and his law degree in 1924. He also joined the military in 1922. In 1939 he served in World War II and commanded the 61st, Battery Royal Canadian Artillery. He retired from the military a Lieutenant Colonel. Like his father, Armour was also a King's Counsel lawyer in Edmonton. In addition Armour sat on the Edmonton School Board as a trustee, and was a member of the non-partisan political association The People's League. Armour married Helen in 1953, and they relocated from Edmonton to Sproat Lake, in the Alberni Valley, British Columbia; Armour continued to practice law locally. Armour and Helen belonged to numerous community organizations in Port Alberni, and in particular, the Alberni District Historical Society. In 1983, they were named Citizens of the Year in Fort Alberni. The Fords also donated 130 acres of land to build Fossli Provincial Park near Sproat Lake. Armour died in 1987, and Helen in 1997.
|