Before his election to the Queensland state parliament in 1917 as the Member for Rockhampton, Francis Michael Forde was a schoolteacher and an electrical engineer. He became the federal Member for Capricornia in 1922 and held this seat for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) until 1946.
Forde was appointed as an honorary minister in the Labor government of James Scullin (1929–31), assisting the Minister for Trade and Customs, until February 1931 when he was appointed to that portfolio. In 1932 he was elected Deputy Leader of the ALP, a position he held until 1946. In this role he served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 1932 to 1941, and then Deputy Prime Minister until 1946.
When John Curtin became Prime Minister in October 1941, Forde was appointed Minister for the Army – a critical portfolio with Japan's entry into World War II. Between 1941 and 1946, Forde acted as Prime Minister on several occasions in Curtin's absence. He became Prime Minister from 6 to 13 July 1945, following the death of John Curtin. Forde contested the ALP leadership, but was defeated by Ben Chifley who became Prime Minister on 13 July.
Forde remained as Deputy Prime Minister to Chifley and Minister for the Army until November 1946. He also served as Minister for Defence between August and November 1946.
Frank Forde lost his seat in parliament in the 1946 general election and was later appointed as the Australian High Commissioner to Canada. He later served a single term in the Queensland state parliament during the 1950s.
The National Archives holds many records relating to Francis Forde's years in parliament, including the brief period he spent as Prime Minister of Australia. Forde's personal records, and a selection of records about him, are listed below.
In the tables below, reference numbers direct you to the item or series in RecordSearch, the Archives database. There you can find more information. In many cases you can view entire digitised records. The information will appear in a new browser window.
 | Photographs – JA Beasley with members of the Curtin Labor Ministry including Makin, Chifley, Collings, Forde and others | 1941 | M1409, 12 | ||
| Press statements by Minister for the Army (Mr FM Forde) | 1942–44 | A5954, 2211/1 | ||
| Photograph – W McKell, F Forde and John Curtin | 1943 | M1218, 7 | ||
| Target for 1945 by the Rt Hon. FM Forde [Publication] | 1944 | A5954, 1979/93 | ||
| Personal correspondence, Australia – Rt Hon. FM Forde | 1944–54 | A5954, 50/8 | ||
| Forde Government. 6th July 1945 | 1945 | A5954, 1947/10 | ||
| 26th Commonwealth Ministry. Forde Ministry from 6 July 1945 to 13 July 1945 | 1945 | A5447, 42 | ||
| Honour PC [Privy Council] The Honourable, FM Forde | 1945 | A2926, A34 | ||
| Governments – Forde Ministry | 1945–46 | A461, AZ4/1/3 | ||
| Press statements by Mr FM Forde | 1945–55 | A5954, 2211/2 | ||
| Federal Election Campaign 1946. Mr Forde Itinerary | 1946 | A5954, 2314/6 | ||
| Canada: appointment of Mr Forde as High Commissioner | 1946–48 | A1067, IC46/64/11/1 | ||
| Diplomatic representatives abroad – Canada – Mr FM Forde, High Commissioner | 1951 | A1838, 1500/2/1/2 | ||
 | Film of visit of Deputy PM Forde to UN Conference | 1945 | SP1202/2 | ||
| Forde, Rt Hon. FM (audio tape) | 1966 | C102, POL103 | ||
| Other records relating to Francis Forde | 1944–50 | MP742/1, 217/1/9 | ||
| [Letter from Ninon P Haring to Mr Forde regarding the tracing of missing members of the 2/22nd Battalion AIF] | 1945 | MP742/1, 255/15/1203 | ||
RecordSearch, the Archives database, will help you locate more records on this Prime Minister. You can also use it to identify the agencies that created the records. PhotoSearch may also contain photos pertaining to your subject. Both RecordSearch and PhotoSearch are available online and in all Archives reading rooms. Reference staff there can help you, or you can email ref@naa.gov.au.
The Archives has also published a series of research guides about prime ministers. You can download them as PDFs, or order the published versions from the Archives shop. See Prime Ministers Guides.
The National Archives of Australia has developed a new portal website on Australia's 25 prime ministers. It features short biographies of the prime ministers and their wives, a ready reference called Fast Facts, photographs, original documents and more.
The portal's research map enables you to find Australian and overseas collections with archives on Australia's prime ministers. Visit primeministers.naa.gov.au.
As part of this new portal website, we have made a suite of new webpages about prime ministerial records in the National Archives.
Comments or other feedback can be sent to archives@naa.gov.au
updated June 2003