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The
Ffrench lineage
stems, Conrad tells us in his book, from Theophilus Ffrench, who came with
William the Conqueror to England in 1066. The Ffrench contingent
eventually settled in the city of Galway. A Patrick Begg Ffrench bought Monivea Castle in the
early 1600s, and his son, Percy, went on to develop the land into a well
appointed estate. The ffrenches were established as a great Irish family.
Conrad's branch of the family married with the O'Briens of Thomond. Donough
O'Brien had gone to Rome to seek a pardon from the Pope for having killed
his brother. He became a monk and in 1064 he was interred in the Rotund chapel
of St Stephen's.
In the
17th century, Moirough O'Brien "Swept Ireland end to end with fire and
sword burning the cathedral of Cashel with all priests and the people were
taking refuge therein. He professed his repentance on becoming a Catholic and
by way of propitiating Pope Alexander VII was opposing his appointment as
Viceroy of Catalonia. He erected a
monument overlooking Lake Bolsena to the
memory of Donough."
(DM p10) From the epitaph on this monument, "Rex Cashel et Thomond",
the property took its name by a local corruption as "Castel Thomond".
Hence the ffrench family inherited the title of "Marquis de Castel et
Thomond". Conrad's father inherited this title shortly after his birth and
in due course Conrad himself became the Marquis.
In 1863,
Robert Percy ffrench married Sophia Kindiakoff a Russian heiress whose family
had large estates in the region of Simbirsk on the Volga River.
The following year, they had a daughter, Kathleen. Back in Monivea, his
brother Acheson, Conrad’s grandfather, also had a daughter - Rosemont,.
Kathleen was brought up in the utmost luxury in Russian Palaces. Rosemont
became the custodian of Monivea. (Below is a link to a radio documentary about Kathleen Rosemont and Monivea)
| Robert Percy ffrench |
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| The ffrench connection. |
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| A radio documentary broadcast on May 4th 2009 by RTÉ |
Conrad's father, Harry,
came over Britain from Australia in the mid-19th
century, Acheson Ffrench – his father – having established a successful sheep farming business outback, Monivea
Station. Harry lived there during his youth, and then set to exploring Australia and the South Seas before turning his eyes to his ancestral roots. He came to England and met and married an heiress, Winifred Thursby of Ormond House in Lancashire – this,
despite being seen by the family as an Australian fortune hunter. Conrad was born on 19th of November 1893 at No 5 Montpellier
Square, London. He was the ffrenches’ second child, Conrad’s elder brother Rollo born the preious year. In
his infancy, they moved to Italy and took the Villa Torlonia in the Albany hills
east of Rome. * '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.
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At a Glance
Date of Birth:11/19/1893 London
Date of Death:10/23/1986
Loveland Colorado
Education: Slade & Byam Shaw London. Andre L'Hote acadamie of Modern Art Paris
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