John Ford is best known as a dramatist, though he also wrote works of prose and poetry. He was born in around 1586 in Ilsington, Devon, the second son of the moderately wealthy Thomas Ford and his wife Elizabeth Popham. Elizabeth was the niece of the Lord Chief Justice, Sir John Popham, who presided over the trial of Sir Walter Ralegh and was taken prisoner during the Essex Rebellion; through her Ford was also related to the important South Welsh family of the Stradlings, who were major patrons of learning with connections of family and friendship to the Sidneys. Ford went first to Exeter College, Oxford, and then, like many other young men of his age and class, proceeded to the one of the London Inns of Court, the Middle Temple.
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Citation: Hopkins, Lisa, Louise Powell. "John Ford". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 October 2000; last revised 25 October 2018. [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1585, accessed 24 November 2024.]
