Sir Edward Ford (22 April 1605 – 3 September 1670), was a member of the West Sussex gentry and inventor, who fought for the Royalists in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

In his "History of the Rebellion", Clarendon judged that while 'a man of honesty and courage', Ford lacked experience of war and was an ineffectual soldier.

[1] However, he proved a reliable and trustworthy agent during negotiations between Charles I and Parliament in the period leading up to the 1648 Second English Civil War.

According to Vicars he offered his majesty "a thousand men, and to undertake the conquest of Sussex, though sixty miles in length."

Ford was left in command by Hopton, with a garrison of above two hundred men and many good officers, but, Clarendon says, he had insufficient experience, although "a man of honour and courage".

In 1647 the queen, knowing his relationship with Ireton, sent him to England to join Sir John Berkeley in a futile negotiation with the army.

[4] On 12 November 1647 Ford with others was ordered by the House of Commons into safe custody upon suspicion of being privy to the king's escape from Hampton Court.

[4] In 1656 Ford was employed, with Oliver Cromwell's encouragement, and at the request of the citizens of London, in devising an engine for raising the River Thames water into all the higher streets of the city, a height of ninety-three feet.

As it obstructed the view from Somerset House, Catherine of Braganza caused it to be demolished; but Ford and Toogood obtained a royal licence to erect other waterworks at Wapping, Marylebone, and between Temple Bar and Charing Cross.