37 Facts About Sir John Conroy

Sir John Ponsonby Conroy, 1st Baronet, KCH was a British Army officer who served as comptroller to the Duchess of Kent and her young daughter, Princess Victoria, the future Queen of the United Kingdom.

Sir John Conroy was immediately expelled from Victoria's household, though he remained in the Duchess of Kent's service for several more years.

Sir John Conroy was one of six children born to John Ponsonby Conroy, Esq.

Sir John Conroy's father was a barrister and the younger Conroy was privately educated in Dublin.

In 1805, Sir John Conroy enrolled in the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich.

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Sir John Conroy made his career during the Napoleonic Wars, though his ability to avoid battle attracted disdain from other officers.

Sir John Conroy did not participate in the Peninsular War or the Waterloo Campaign.

Elizabeth was the daughter of Colonel Benjamin Fisher and Sir John Conroy served under him in Ireland and England while performing various administrative duties.

Sir John Conroy was promoted to Second Captain on 13 March 1811 and appointed adjutant in the Corps of Artillery Drivers on 11 March 1817.

Sir John Conroy was appointed as an equerry in 1817, shortly before the Duke's marriage to Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

An efficient organiser, Sir John Conroy's planning ensured the Duke and Duchess' speedy return to England in time for the birth of their first child.

Sir John Conroy was named an executor of the Duke's will, though he was unsuccessful in persuading the dying man to name him Victoria's guardian.

Aware that he needed to find another source of revenue quickly, Sir John Conroy offered his services as comptroller to the now-widowed Duchess of Kent and her infant daughter.

The intention was for the Duchess to be appointed regent upon Victoria's ascension and for Sir John Conroy to be created Victoria's private secretary and given a peerage.

Aware of the reasons behind King George IV's unpopularity, Sir John Conroy promoted a public image of the Duchess that was pure, modest and decorous, while at the same time increasing her paranoia against the British royal family, particularly the Duke of Cumberland.

Regardless of his claims of grandeur, Sir John Conroy belonged to the middle class and recognised the growing power of this group within British society.

Sir John Conroy effectively barred Victoria from anyone other than the Duchess or his relatives and the princess was prevented from becoming close to her extended family.

Early in his stay at Kensington Palace, Sir John Conroy made an effort to become close to Princess Sophia, an elderly sister of George IV who resided at the palace.

Sophia is described by Christopher Hibbert as an "impressionable and mentally unstable woman", and Sir John Conroy had little difficulty in persuading her to let him take control of her finances.

Sir John Conroy complained that the princess should not be surrounded by commoners, leading King George IV to appoint Sir John Conroy a Knight Commander of the Hanoverian Order and a Knight Bachelor that year.

The Duchess and Sir John Conroy continued to be unpopular with the royal family and, in 1829, the Duke of Cumberland spread rumours that they were lovers in an attempt to discredit them.

Duke of Clarence became King William IV in 1830, by which point Sir John Conroy felt very confident of his position; his control of the household was secure.

The new king and queen attempted to gain custody of their niece, but Sir John Conroy quickly replied that Victoria could not be "tainted" by the moral atmosphere at court.

Sir John Conroy solidified the stance that mother and daughter could not be separated, and continued to promote the Duchess' virtue as a fit regent.

On one trip Sir John Conroy was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Oxford.

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In 1842, Sir John Conroy settled at his family home in Arborfield Hall near Reading, Berkshire and became a gentleman farmer, winning prizes for his pig breeding.

Sir John Conroy founded the Montgomery Regiment of Militia in 1849.

Sir John Conroy was moved to admit that Conroy had swindled her while at the same time hurting her relationship with Victoria for his own benefit.

The Duke of Cambridge and the Duchess of Gloucester had a lawyer write to Sir John Conroy demanding that he account for the rest of their sister Sophia's funds, but Sir John Conroy simply ignored it.

Sir John Conroy ultimately received £148,000 in gifts and money from Sophia.

Later, as an aged Queen, Victoria was aghast to discover that many people did indeed believe that her mother and Sir John Conroy were intimate and stated that the Duchess' piety would have prevented this.

Sir John Conroy cites the rarity of genetic mutations as evidence, as well as the "remarkable" circumstances surrounding Victoria's conception.

Alan Rushton adds that no one in the household of the newly married Duchess of Kent, including Sir John Conroy, is known to have had haemophilia, and that her probable awareness of the scandals surrounding the behaviour of Caroline of Brunswick and Caroline Matilda of Great Britain would have deterred her from seeking an affair elsewhere.

Sir John Conroy has been portrayed numerous times in film and television.

Sir John Conroy appears in numerous historical fiction novels about Queen Victoria.

Sir John Conroy was descended from the O Maolconaire family of Elphin, County Roscommon.

Sir John Conroy was descended from Maoilin O Maolchonaire who was the last recognised Chief of the Sept.