Background
She was born Lena Guilbert Brown in Venango County, Pennsylvania and attended Elmira College, graduating in 1887.
She was born Lena Guilbert Brown in Venango County, Pennsylvania and attended Elmira College, graduating in 1887.
During World War I, Ford opened her home to soldiers and took care of them. While in Britain she met Ivor Novello, with whom she collaborated to produce "Keep the Home Fires Burning" in 1914. lieutenant was the first major success for Novello and the only one for Ford.
Among Ford"s other published musical works are "When God Gave You to Maine", "We Are Coming, Mother England", and "God Guard You" (with Westell Gordon).
Ford and her thirty-year-old son Walter were the first United States citizens to become fatalities of a German air raid on London, their home being hit by one of two bombs that fell on the city on 7 March 1918. Mistress Brown, Ford"s mother, was only hurt in the bombing.
Their remains were returned to and interred in the United States.