Frank C. Ford was born in Toronto, Ontario, on March 4, 1873 to James Ford and Catherine Poole. He received his early education in Ontario and earned Bachelor and Doctor of Civil Law degrees from Trinity University. He was admitted to Osgoode Hall Law School in 1890 and articled with Read, Read and McKnight. Ford was called to the Ontario bar in 1895.
Ford served as the Private Secretary to D'Alton McCarthy from 1893 to 1897, when he became a partner with the firm Denton, Dods and Ford. In 1898, he became Private Secretary and Solicitor to the Honourable Arthur Sturgis Hardy (Premier and Attorney General of Ontario) and for the Honourable J.M. Gibson (Attorney General of Ontario). Ford served as a Captain in the Canadian Militia on the reserve of the 20th Regiment (the Lorne Rifles) in the County of Halton. In 1900, Ford became the Solicitor to the Treasury and remained at that post until 1904.
Frank Ford moved to Western Canada in 1904. He accepted the command of the 95th Regiment shortly after its formation in July 1905. As Major, he was responsible for enlisting commissioned and non-commissioned officers and private soldiers for the newly formed regiment. Ford was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on October 7, 1908 and retained command of the regiment until March 10, 1911.
Ford was admitted to the Bar of the Northwest Territories and served as Deputy Attorney General for Saskatchewan from 1906 to 1910. He later moved to Edmonton, Alberta to practice law with the firm of Emery, Newell, Ford, Bolton and Mount. He remained with the firm until his appointment to the Supreme Court of Alberta, Trial Division on May 3, 1926. On November 3, 1936, he was appointed a justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Alberta. He retired from the bench in 1954 and died in Edmonton on March 21, 1965.
Ford served as Chancellor of the Edmonton Diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada from 1913 to 1943, and was Chancellor of the University of Alberta from 1941 to 1946.
Ford was appointed a King's Counsel in Saskatchewan (1907), Ontario (1910) and Alberta (1913).
Frank Ford married Nora Elizabeth Sampson in Toronto on June 28, 1899. They had four children. Nora Ford died in 1920 and Frank Ford married Jane Duff Kerr on July 30, 1923.