Lena Guilbert Ford
Lena Guilbert Brown Ford, middle name sometimes listed as Gilbert, (1870 – March 7, 1918) was a lyricist, best known for "Keep the Home Fires Burning" which she wrote during the First World War. She was born Lena Guilbert Brown in Venango County, Pennsylvania and attended Elmira College, graduating in 1887. She married physician Harry Hale Ford and settled in Elmira, later divorcing him and relocating, with her mother and son, to London, England, where they would remain for twenty years.
Also recorded as Lena Gilbert Brown · Lena Guilbert Brown Ford
Lena Guilbert Ford
Ford, Lena Guilbert (w.) · "Keep the Home-Fires Burning ('Till the Boys Come Home)"(Sheet music). New York: Chappell Co. Ltd. · Public domain
- Name
- Lena Guilbert Ford
- Birth Name
- Lena Guilbert Brown
- Born
- 1870
- Birthplace
- Venango County, Pennsylvania
- Died
- March 7, 1918
- Place of death
- Maida Vale, England
- Spouse
- Harry Hale Ford (divorced)
- Occupation
- Lyricist
- Known for
- Keep the Home Fires Burning
- Nationality
- United States.
- Education
- Elmira College.
- Languages
- English.
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Documentary summary
Lena Guilbert Brown Ford, middle name sometimes listed as Gilbert, (1870 – March 7, 1918) was a lyricist, best known for "Keep the Home Fires Burning" which she wrote during the First World War. She was born Lena Guilbert Brown in Venango County, Pennsylvania and attended Elmira College, graduating in 1887. She married physician Harry Hale Ford and settled in Elmira, later divorcing him and relocating, with her mother and son, to London, England, where they would remain for twenty years.
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wikidata · Q6522106 · wikipedia · Lena Guilbert Ford
In this article
Biography
Biography
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. It 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 Me, 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 in Warrington Crescent, Maida Vale being hit by one of eighteen bombs that fell on the city on the night of 7/8 March 1918. Brown, Ford's mother, was only hurt in the bombing. Their remains were returned to and interred in the United States.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Lena Guilbert Ford • Birth Name — Lena Guilbert Brown • Born — 1870 • Birthplace — Venango County, Pennsylvania • Died — March 7, 1918 • Place of death — Maida Vale, England • Spouse — Harry Hale Ford (divorced) • Occupation — Lyricist • Known for — Keep the Home Fires Burning • Illustration — Sheet music cover
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1870
Lena Guilbert Ford born at United States.
1918
Lena Guilbert Ford died at London.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
United States.
Birth place
London.
Death place
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Maisel, Edward. Charles T. Griffes, the life of an American composer. Knopf. 226. 1984. 0394540816.
- 2.Jennings, Isaac. Annual catalogue and circular of the Elmira College. Advertiser Association Steam Book and Job Printing House. 33. 1892.
- 3.From all quarters. Belfast News-Letter. 4. 1918-03-13.
- 4.Pegler, Martin, Soldiers' Songs and Slang of the Great War Osprey Publishing, 2014, , page 248.
- 5.Castle, Ian. 7/8 March 1918. Zeppelin Raids, Gothas and Giants.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 5
- New York Evening Telegram, March 11, 1918, "American Woman Author and Son Air Raid Victims", p. 8.
- Auburn (New York) Citizen, March 11, 1918, "Author of 'Keep the Home Fires Burning' is Killed", p. 1.
- New York Times, March 13, 1918, "Mrs. Ford's Estate Raises Knotty Point".
- The Music Trade Review, April 13, 1918, "Royalty Question Before Courts", p. 57.
- Alice Zinska Snyder and Milton Valentine Snyder (1921), Paris Days and London Nights, E.P. Dutton & Company, p. 39.
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Further particulars
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The authorities additionally record the headings Lena Gilbert Brown and Lena Guilbert Brown Ford. Her recorded language was English. Recorded as lyricist, songwriter, poet and writer.
Identity and origins
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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