Ebenezer Ford was born on 22 September 1890 at Hove, Sussex, and died on 14 October 1974 at the age of 84. His father, George Horace Ford, was a man of insatiable intellectual curiosity and was a great stimulus to his sons. He took them on walks to ‘explore’ the countryside of Sussex, including the sea shore, which much interested ‘Ebb’, as he was known. Both sides of the family came from yeoman non-conformist stock, which instilled into him a keen sense of duty and desire to serve the public. Ebb was much involved in country affairs and had many opportunities of taking part in Wealden farm life. He was thus essentially an open-air boy with a growing interest in nature.