Richard Ford was an English politician who sat in the house of Commons

House of Commons of Great Britain

The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of the Parliament of Scotland, as one of the most significant...

 from 1789 to 1791.

Ford was elected as a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for the borough of East Grinstead

East Grinstead (UK Parliament constituency)

East Grinstead was a parliamentary constituency in the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. It first existed as a Parliamentary borough from 1307, returning two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons elected by the bloc vote system...

 in Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

 at an unopposed by-election in February 1789. He held that seat until the general election in 1790

British general election, 1790

The British general election, 1790 returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 17th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707.-Political Situation:...

, when he was returned unopposed for the borough of Appleby

Appleby (UK Parliament constituency)

Appleby was a parliamentary constituency in the former county of Westmorland in England. It existed for two separate periods: from 1295 to 1832, and from 1885 to 1918....

 in Westmorland

Westmorland

Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...

.

He served less than a year as an MP for Appleby, until he resigned from the Commons

Resignation from the British House of Commons

Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. To circumvent this prohibition, a legal fiction is used...

 in early 1791 by accepting the post of Steward of East Hendred. (The by-election for his successor was held in May 1791).