John Conroy
Encyclopedia
Sir John Conroy, 1st Baronet KH
(21 October 1786 – 2 March 1854) was a British army officer who became the chief attendant of the Duke of Kent and the Duchess of Kent
who were the parents of Queen Victoria
. When the Duke died, he became comptroller
of the duchess' household and was rumoured to be her lover. Together, they designed the Kensington System
, an elaborate and strict system of rules for the upbringing of young Victoria, designed to render her weak-willed and utterly dependent upon them in the hopes of allowing them to wield power through her. Victoria grew to hate Conroy over the oppressive system and immediately expelled him from court life when she became queen.
to Irish
parents, John Ponsonby Conroy, Esq., and Margaret Wilson. His father, a barrister
, had moved to Britain
to practice law. He was privately educated until enrolled in the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich
. On 8 September 1803, he was commissioned in the Royal Artillery
as a Second Lieutenant
, and was promoted to First Lieutenant
on 12 September. He was further promoted to Second Captain on 13 March 1811 and appointed adjutant
in the Corps of Artillery Drivers on 11 March 1817. He retired on half-pay
in 1822.
to the Duchess of Kent and her infant daughter, the future Queen.
Conroy's relationship to the Duchess was very close and they were widely believed to be lovers. He served as her comptroller and private secretary for the next 19 years. The pair devised the Kensington System
to govern young Victoria's upbringing, an elaborate and oppressive system of rules regulating every facet of Victoria's life and keeping her in reclusive isolation most of the time, with the goal of making her weak, compliant, and utterly dependent upon her mother and Conroy.
By 1830, it had become clear that Victoria would succeed to the throne. If King William IV
died while Victoria was a minor, which seemed likely, the Duchess believed that she would be Regent
. Conroy and the Duchess began browbeating and threatening Victoria, repeatedly telling her to appoint Conroy her private secretary and treasurer. Victoria resisted their efforts and grew to hate her mother and Conroy.
King William intensely disliked the Duchess and reportedly vowed to wait until Victoria came of age to die simply to keep the Duchess from a regency. He died just weeks after Victoria's 18th birthday in 1837, making Victoria queen. One of her first acts was to dismiss Conroy from her own household and ban him from her apartments. She could not dismiss him from her mother's household. On the advice of the Prime Minister
, Lord Melbourne
, Victoria granted Conroy a baronetcy and a pension
of £3000 per annum, with the understanding that he would not be visible at court in return. This did not satisfy Conroy, who felt that he deserved at least an earldom.
Though Queen Victoria, as an unmarried young woman, was still expected to live with her mother, she relegated the Duchess and Conroy to remote apartments at Buckingham Palace
, cutting off personal contact with them. Lord Melbourne advised Victoria to marry to be completely rid of them. When she did marry her first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on February 10, 1840, Conroy left the Duchess's household and went to the Continent as it became clear that he would never gain any influence in the royal court. The Duchess remained in Britain, but was evicted from the palace and rarely visited by Victoria.
(1777–1848), a spinster daughter of George III
. Sophia had a substantial income from the civil list
. Because of poor health and failing eyesight, however, she lived very modestly, but at her death, she left only £
1,607 19s 7d in her bank accounts.
In 1848, the Duke of Cambridge
and the Duchess of Gloucester
had a lawyer write to Conroy demanding that he account for the rest of their sister Sophia's funds, but Conroy simply ignored it. According to Flora Fraser, the most recent biographer of George III's daughters, Princess Sophia had in fact personally spent huge sums on Conroy, including heavy contributions to the purchase prices of his residences and supporting his family in a style he judged appropriate to their position.
Soon after this, the Duchess of Kent's new comptroller, Sir George Couper, had need to go through the old accounts. He found huge discrepancies. No records for her household or personal expenses had been kept after 1829. There was also no record of nearly £50,000 the Duchess had received from her brother, Leopold
, nor of an additional £10,000 from William IV. Lady Longford's biography of Queen Victoria states that Conroy claimed the missing money had been used to pay off the substantial debts left by Victoria's father the Duke of Kent, but this was a transparent untruth since the Queen herself had been paying them off ever since her accession in 1837. No satisfactory explanation for the situation was ever offered.
As with the estate of The Princess Sophia, however, there was no concrete evidence that Conroy had taken any of the missing funds, and he was never charged.
was asked if the Duchess and Conroy were lovers, he replied that he "supposed so".
Victoria was reported to have caught Conroy and her mother "engaged in familiarities". It was not recorded whether the familiarities were of a physical sexual nature, but she interpreted them as indicating that they were lovers rather than mistress and servant. Victoria told her governess, Baroness Lehzen, who in turn told Madame de Spaeth, one of the Duchess's ladies-in-waiting. De Spaeth confronted the Duchess about the relationship and was immediately dismissed by the Duchess. Lehzen became an enemy of the Duchess and Conroy.
Later, as an aged Queen, Victoria was aghast to discover that many people did indeed believe that the Duchess and Conroy were intimate, and stated that "Mama's piety would have prevented this."
During Victoria's lifetime, there were rumours that Conroy, and not the Duke of Kent, was her biological father. But the Duchess and Conroy had not met at the time of Victoria's conception and Victoria bore no physical similarities to Conroy, but did bear strong family resemblance to House of Hanover
, in particular the Duke of Kent's eldest brother King George IV
.
A. N. Wilson
suggested that Victoria was not actually descended from George III
(the Duke of Kent's father), because several of her descendants had haemophilia
, which was unknown among her recognised ancestors.
However, there is evidence that some of Victoria's descendants did have mild porphyria
, most notably Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen
. There is more reliable documentation that one of her great-great-grandsons, Prince William of Gloucester
, was diagnosed with the disease shortly before his death when his aircraft crashed during an air race.
Haemophilia is carried in the female line, except in the rare case where a male sufferer lives long enough to beget daughters, all of whom would then be carriers. Conroy showed no signs of haemophilia, and lived to be 68 years old.
. The film depicts Conroy as a maniacal controlling pseudo-father to the young Victoria during the year preceding her ascension even going so far as depicting him assaulting the princess twice. The film goes on to depict Conroy's expulsion from Queen Victoria's household. Patrick Malahide
played Conroy in the 2001 TV miniseries Victoria & Albert
.
Royal Guelphic Order
The Royal Guelphic Order, sometimes also referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent . It has not been conferred by the British Crown since the death of King William IV in 1837, when the personal union of the...
(21 October 1786 – 2 March 1854) was a British army officer who became the chief attendant of the Duke of Kent and the Duchess of Kent
Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was the mother of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.-Early life:...
who were the parents of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
. When the Duke died, he became comptroller
Comptroller
A comptroller is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization.In British government, the Comptroller General or Comptroller and Auditor General is in most countries the external auditor of the budget execution of the...
of the duchess' household and was rumoured to be her lover. Together, they designed the Kensington System
Kensington System
The Kensington System was a strict and elaborate set of rules designed by Victoria, Duchess of Kent, along with her attendant and supposed lover, Sir John Conroy, concerning the upbringing of the Duchess's daughter, the future Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom...
, an elaborate and strict system of rules for the upbringing of young Victoria, designed to render her weak-willed and utterly dependent upon them in the hopes of allowing them to wield power through her. Victoria grew to hate Conroy over the oppressive system and immediately expelled him from court life when she became queen.
Background, education and military service
Conroy was born in WalesWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
to Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
parents, John Ponsonby Conroy, Esq., and Margaret Wilson. His father, a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, had moved to Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
to practice law. He was privately educated until enrolled in the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich
Woolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
. On 8 September 1803, he was commissioned in the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
as a Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
, and was promoted to First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
on 12 September. He was further promoted to Second Captain on 13 March 1811 and appointed adjutant
Adjutant
Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...
in the Corps of Artillery Drivers on 11 March 1817. He retired on half-pay
Half-pay
In the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, half-pay referred to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service....
in 1822.
Relationship with the Duchess of Kent
Through the connection with his father-in-law, Major-General Benjamin Fisher, Conroy came to the attention of the Duke of Kent. He was appointed as an equerry in 1817, shortly before the Duke's marriage. An efficient organiser, he soon became a favourite of both the Duke and Duchess. When the Duke died in 1820, Conroy offered his services as comptrollerComptroller
A comptroller is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization.In British government, the Comptroller General or Comptroller and Auditor General is in most countries the external auditor of the budget execution of the...
to the Duchess of Kent and her infant daughter, the future Queen.
Conroy's relationship to the Duchess was very close and they were widely believed to be lovers. He served as her comptroller and private secretary for the next 19 years. The pair devised the Kensington System
Kensington System
The Kensington System was a strict and elaborate set of rules designed by Victoria, Duchess of Kent, along with her attendant and supposed lover, Sir John Conroy, concerning the upbringing of the Duchess's daughter, the future Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom...
to govern young Victoria's upbringing, an elaborate and oppressive system of rules regulating every facet of Victoria's life and keeping her in reclusive isolation most of the time, with the goal of making her weak, compliant, and utterly dependent upon her mother and Conroy.
By 1830, it had become clear that Victoria would succeed to the throne. If King William IV
William IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
died while Victoria was a minor, which seemed likely, the Duchess believed that she would be Regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
. Conroy and the Duchess began browbeating and threatening Victoria, repeatedly telling her to appoint Conroy her private secretary and treasurer. Victoria resisted their efforts and grew to hate her mother and Conroy.
King William intensely disliked the Duchess and reportedly vowed to wait until Victoria came of age to die simply to keep the Duchess from a regency. He died just weeks after Victoria's 18th birthday in 1837, making Victoria queen. One of her first acts was to dismiss Conroy from her own household and ban him from her apartments. She could not dismiss him from her mother's household. On the advice of the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, Lord Melbourne
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, PC, FRS was a British Whig statesman who served as Home Secretary and Prime Minister . He is best known for his intense and successful mentoring of Queen Victoria, at ages 18-21, in the ways of politics...
, Victoria granted Conroy a baronetcy and a pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
of £3000 per annum, with the understanding that he would not be visible at court in return. This did not satisfy Conroy, who felt that he deserved at least an earldom.
Though Queen Victoria, as an unmarried young woman, was still expected to live with her mother, she relegated the Duchess and Conroy to remote apartments at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
, cutting off personal contact with them. Lord Melbourne advised Victoria to marry to be completely rid of them. When she did marry her first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on February 10, 1840, Conroy left the Duchess's household and went to the Continent as it became clear that he would never gain any influence in the royal court. The Duchess remained in Britain, but was evicted from the palace and rarely visited by Victoria.
Suspected embezzlement
Conroy also had some control of the finances of The Princess SophiaPrincess Sophia of the United Kingdom
The Princess Sophia was a member of the British Royal Family, the twelfth child and fifth daughter of King George III and Queen Charlotte...
(1777–1848), a spinster daughter of George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
. Sophia had a substantial income from the civil list
Civil list
-United Kingdom:In the United Kingdom, the Civil List is the name given to the annual grant that covers some expenses associated with the Sovereign performing their official duties, including those for staff salaries, State Visits, public engagements, ceremonial functions and the upkeep of the...
. Because of poor health and failing eyesight, however, she lived very modestly, but at her death, she left only £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
1,607 19s 7d in her bank accounts.
In 1848, the Duke of Cambridge
Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
The Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge , was the tenth child and seventh son of George III and Queen Charlotte. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 1801 until his death. He also served as Viceroy of Hanover on behalf of his brothers George IV and William IV...
and the Duchess of Gloucester
Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh
The Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh was a member of the British Royal Family, the eleventh child and fourth daughter of George III....
had a lawyer write to Conroy demanding that he account for the rest of their sister Sophia's funds, but Conroy simply ignored it. According to Flora Fraser, the most recent biographer of George III's daughters, Princess Sophia had in fact personally spent huge sums on Conroy, including heavy contributions to the purchase prices of his residences and supporting his family in a style he judged appropriate to their position.
Soon after this, the Duchess of Kent's new comptroller, Sir George Couper, had need to go through the old accounts. He found huge discrepancies. No records for her household or personal expenses had been kept after 1829. There was also no record of nearly £50,000 the Duchess had received from her brother, Leopold
Leopold I of Belgium
Leopold I was from 21 July 1831 the first King of the Belgians, following Belgium's independence from the Netherlands. He was the founder of the Belgian line of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
, nor of an additional £10,000 from William IV. Lady Longford's biography of Queen Victoria states that Conroy claimed the missing money had been used to pay off the substantial debts left by Victoria's father the Duke of Kent, but this was a transparent untruth since the Queen herself had been paying them off ever since her accession in 1837. No satisfactory explanation for the situation was ever offered.
As with the estate of The Princess Sophia, however, there was no concrete evidence that Conroy had taken any of the missing funds, and he was never charged.
Suspected lover of the Duchess
Conroy's relationship with the Duchess was the subject of much speculation in his lifetime. When the Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
was asked if the Duchess and Conroy were lovers, he replied that he "supposed so".
Victoria was reported to have caught Conroy and her mother "engaged in familiarities". It was not recorded whether the familiarities were of a physical sexual nature, but she interpreted them as indicating that they were lovers rather than mistress and servant. Victoria told her governess, Baroness Lehzen, who in turn told Madame de Spaeth, one of the Duchess's ladies-in-waiting. De Spaeth confronted the Duchess about the relationship and was immediately dismissed by the Duchess. Lehzen became an enemy of the Duchess and Conroy.
Later, as an aged Queen, Victoria was aghast to discover that many people did indeed believe that the Duchess and Conroy were intimate, and stated that "Mama's piety would have prevented this."
Rumour that Conroy was Queen Victoria's father
- See also: Legitimacy of Queen Victoria
During Victoria's lifetime, there were rumours that Conroy, and not the Duke of Kent, was her biological father. But the Duchess and Conroy had not met at the time of Victoria's conception and Victoria bore no physical similarities to Conroy, but did bear strong family resemblance to House of Hanover
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover is a deposed German royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, in particular the Duke of Kent's eldest brother King George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
.
A. N. Wilson
A. N. Wilson
Andrew Norman Wilson is an English writer and newspaper columnist, known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views...
suggested that Victoria was not actually descended from George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
(the Duke of Kent's father), because several of her descendants had haemophilia
Haemophilia
Haemophilia is a group of hereditary genetic disorders that impair the body's ability to control blood clotting or coagulation, which is used to stop bleeding when a blood vessel is broken. Haemophilia A is the most common form of the disorder, present in about 1 in 5,000–10,000 male births...
, which was unknown among her recognised ancestors.
However, there is evidence that some of Victoria's descendants did have mild porphyria
Porphyria
Porphyrias are a group of inherited or acquired disorders of certain enzymes in the heme bio-synthetic pathway . They are broadly classified as acute porphyrias and cutaneous porphyrias, based on the site of the overproduction and accumulation of the porphyrins...
, most notably Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen
Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen
Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen was born at Potsdam, was the only child of Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and his wife Charlotte of Prussia...
. There is more reliable documentation that one of her great-great-grandsons, Prince William of Gloucester
Prince William of Gloucester
Prince William of Gloucester was a member of the British Royal Family, a grandson of George V.-Early life:...
, was diagnosed with the disease shortly before his death when his aircraft crashed during an air race.
Haemophilia is carried in the female line, except in the rare case where a male sufferer lives long enough to beget daughters, all of whom would then be carriers. Conroy showed no signs of haemophilia, and lived to be 68 years old.
Family
Conroy married Elizabeth Fisher (1791 – 9 April 1861), daughter of Major-General Benjamin Fisher, in Dublin, on 12 December 1808. They had five children:- Elizabeth Jane Conroy (13 May 1811 – 1 May 1855).
- Sir Edward Conroy, 2nd Baronet (1812 – 3 November 1869) m Alicia Parsons (1815 – 21 January 1885).
- Arthur Benjamin Conroy (7 May 1813 – 24 May 1817).
- Stephen Rowley Conroy (15 August 1815 – 9 September 1841).
- Victoria Maria Louisa Conroy (12 August 1819 – 9 February 1866) m Sir Wyndham Edward Hanmer, 4th Baronet.
Portrayal in film
Conroy was portrayed in the 2009 film The Young Victoria by English actor Mark StrongMark Strong
Mark Strong is an English actor, with a body of work in both films and television. He has performed in films as varied as Body of Lies, Syriana, The Young Victoria, Sherlock Holmes, RocknRolla, Stardust, and Kick-Ass...
. The film depicts Conroy as a maniacal controlling pseudo-father to the young Victoria during the year preceding her ascension even going so far as depicting him assaulting the princess twice. The film goes on to depict Conroy's expulsion from Queen Victoria's household. Patrick Malahide
Patrick Malahide
Patrick Malahide is a British actor, who has played many major film and television roles.-Personal life:Malahide, real name Patrick Gerald Duggan, was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Irish immigrants, a cook mother and a school secretary father...
played Conroy in the 2001 TV miniseries Victoria & Albert
Victoria & Albert (TV serial)
Victoria & Albert is a 2001 British-US historical television serial. It focused on the early life and marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The series starred Victoria Hamilton as Victoria, Jonathan Firth as Prince Albert and Peter Ustinov as King William IV. It was directed by John Ermant....
.