Sir David Robert Ford, (; 22 February 1935 – 10 September 2017) was the fifth and the last non-ethnic Chinese Chief Secretary of Hong Kong and Deputy Governor of Hong Kong from 1987 to 1993 and was Hong Kong Commissioner in London from 1980 to 1981 and again from 1994 until 1997.
Biography
Ford was born on 22 February 1935 and educated at the Taunton School in southwest England. He joined the military service at 20 as a regular army officer in the Royal Artillery, serving in 17 different countries on five different continents. In his last five years of service, he served in Aden and Borneo with the Commando Brigade. During the Hong Kong 1967 Leftist riots, Ford was seconded to the Hong Kong government. The riots instigated by the local communists left 51 people dead.
Ford left the army in 1972 and began working in the Hong Kong government, holding a number of appointments as a senior civil servant . He became the Director of the Information Services Department in 1974 where he engaged in propaganda warfare with the communists in Hong Kong. He was Under Secretary in the Northern Ireland Office between 1977 and 1979 during the resurgence of the Irish Republican Army in the period known as The Troubles. Pro-Beijing newspapers believed Ford was an MI6 agent due to his portfolio. He held the position until 1993 when he retired and took the position of Hong Kong Commissioner in London for the second time later in 1994. He visited Hong Kong several times after his departure, attracting interest from the pro-Beijing media which speculated on his strategising with pan-democrat opposition and "meddling" in Hong Kong's internal affairs.
Ford died on 10 September 2017, at the age of 82. His wife, Lady Gillian Ford was a founder and subsequently patron of the Hong Kong Children's Cancer Foundation from 1987 to 1992.
Personal life
In 1958, Ford married Elspeth Anne (née Muckart). Together they had four children; two sons and two daughters. Their marriage was dissolved in 1987, and the same year he married Gillian Petersen (née Monsarrat). One of his daughters is Mandy Ford, an Anglican priest who has been Dean of Bristol since 2020.