Conrad O'Brien-ffrench
| Conrad Fulke Thomond O’Brien-ffrench, Marquis de Castelthomond | |
|---|---|
Conrad O'Brien-ffrench c. 1919
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| Nickname(s) | Eagle (Regimental nickname 1921) |
| Born |
19 November 1893 London, England |
| Died |
23 October 1986 (aged 92) Loveland, Colorado, United States |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Years of service | 1912, 3rd batt. Royal Irish Regiment; 1914-1919, served in World War I; 1922, Capt. 16th The Queen's Lancers; 1919-1920, assist. mil. attache at Stockholm; 1920-1921, at Helsingfors; 1922, A.D.C. to Gov. of United Provinces, India |
| Rank | Captain, 16/5 Lancers |
| Unit | Royal Irish Regiment (Disbanded 1922. Not the current Regiment created 1992); 16th The Queen's Lancers |
| Battles/wars | Mons, World War I |
| Awards | The 1914 Star, Clasp & Emb., 8/13/1914 (Mons Star); The 1914 British War Medal (Squeak), 1914-1918; The Allied Victory Medal (Wilfred); Knight of Honour and Devotion of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem |
| Other work | SIS/MI6 Agent ST36 1919-1922. He rejoined in 1930 and became an operative (Agent Z3) for Claude Dansey's Z Organization until 1938. |
Conrad Fulke Thomond O’Brien-ffrench (19 November 1893 – 23 October 1986), was a distinguished British Secret Intelligence Officer, Captain in the Tipperary Rangers of the Royal Irish Regiment and 16th The Queen's Lancers in World War I, and Mountie for the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. He was also an accomplished artist, linguist, mountaineer, skier and author.
Conrad Fulke Thomond O’Brien-ffrench was born in London, England, the second son of Henry Albert De Vreque O'Brien-ffrench, Marquis de Castelthomond, and his wife Winifred neé Thursby, heiress and daughter of Major James Legh Thursby, of Ormerod House Lancashire.
He and his elder brother Rollo (Rollo Adrien Vladimir Thursby Marie Altieri O'Brien-ffrench) spent their early childhood in Italy at Villa Torlonia (Frascati) in the Alban Hills, east of Rome, and then at Piazza dell'Indipendenza in Florence, where they received private tutoring in English, French and Italian. Returning to England, Conrad joined Rollo at the Wick, a preparatory school at Hove in Sussex. After Rollo left the Wick, Conrad completed his preparatory schooling at St. Aubyns School in Rottingdean, and then attended Bradley Court Agricultural College in the Forest of Dean, where he developed his lifelong interest in horsemanship, fox hunting and other country pursuits, and became a junior member of the Ledbury Hunt. During these years his other siblings, Yvonne (Yvonne Castelthomond O'Brien-ffrench) and Alexis (Alexis Evelyn Henry O'Brien-ffrench), were born.
When he was 16, Conrad's life took an abrupt turn when Rollo died in an accident playing football. Conrad left school at this time to study farming in the Evesham Valley, and while there he met a Justice of the Peace from Buffalo Lake Ranch in Saskatchewan, who told him of life on the wild frontier and of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. In April 1910, at age 17, Conrad sailed on the Empress of Britain for Quebec and continued west to join the Royal Northwest Mounted Police in Saskatchewan.
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