The Ffrench lineage stems, Conrad tells
us in his autobiography, from Sir Theophilus Ffrench who came on William’s expedition to England in 1066. After the Battle
of Hastings the Ffrench contingent eventually settled in the city of Galway. A Patrick Begg Ffrench
bought Monivea Castle in the early 1600s. His son Robert Percy bought more land and developed
the property into a comfortable and well appointed estate. Thus the Ffrenchs were established as a great Irish family.
Conrads Branch of the Family had intermarried with The O,Briens of Thomond. Donough O'Brien had
gone to Rome to obtain a pardon for having killed his brother. He had died there as
a Monk in 1064 and been buried in The Rotund Chapel of St Stephen. In the seventeenth century Moirough O'Brien, as Conrad
puts it in his book.
Swept Ireland end to end with fire
and sword, Burning the cathedral of Cashel with all the priests and people who had taken refuge therein. He professed his
repentance on becoming Catholic and by way of propitiating Pope Alexander VII, who was opposing his appointment as Viceroy
of Catalonia, erected a monument overlooking the lake bolsena to the memory of this Donough. From the Epitaph on this monument,
"Rex Cashel et Thomond", the property took its name, by local corruption Castel Thomond, So became known the owner of it .
(op cit p10)
Conrads father had inherited the title "Marquis de Castel
et Thomond" by the law of second-geniture shortly after his birth.
Conrads Father Harry came over from Australia in the mid 1800s. His
Father Acheson Ffrench having established a successful sheep farming business outback called Monivea Station. Harry had lived
there during his education then set to exploring Australia and the South Seas before turning his eyes
to his ancestral roots. He married Winnifred Thursby of Ormond House in Lancashire an heiress. Despite being seen by
the family as a fortune hunting Australian. Conrad was born on the nineteenth of November at No 5 Montpelier Square London.
In his infancy they moved to Italy and lived in Villa Torlonia in the Albany Hills east of Rome. Here Conrad spent his
first eight years.
* 'Delicate Mission' {first published in
1979 by Skilton & Shaw (Fudge & Co Ltd) of London} hereafter DM. Conrad was given a grant from The Royal
Mounted Police to write this memoir of his life.
