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{{Short description|British colonial administrator}}
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'''Sir Conrad Laurence Corfield''', [[Order of the Indian Empire|KCIE]], [[Order of the Star of India|CSI]], [[Military Cross|MC]], (15 August 1893 - 3 October 1980), was a British [[civil service|civil servant]] and the private secretary to several [[viceroy]]s of [[India]], including [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord Mountbatten]]. He also was the author of the book ''The Princely India I knew, from Reading to Mountbatten.''<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books/about/The_princely_India_I_knew_from_Reading_t.html?id=FsgBAAAAMAAJ |title=The princely India I knew, from Reading to Mountbatten}}</ref>
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2020}}
⚫
'''Sir Conrad Laurence Corfield''' [[Order of the Indian Empire|KCIE]], [[Order of the Star of India|CSI]], [[Military Cross|MC]], (15 August 1893 – 3 October 1980), was a British civil servant and the private secretary to several [[viceroy]]s of [[India]], including [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord Mountbatten]]. He also was the author of the book ''The Princely India I Knew, from Reading to Mountbatten.''<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FsgBAAAAMAAJ |title=The princely India I knew, from Reading to Mountbatten|last1=Corfield|first1=Sir Conrad|year=1975}}</ref>


==Early life==
==Early life and wartime service==
Corfield was born on 15 August 1893, the son of the Rev. Egerton Corfield, a [[Church of England]] [[missionary]] and later [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of [[Finchampstead]], [[Berkshire]], in [[England]].<ref name=Obituary>{{cite news|title=Obituary, Sir Conrad Corfield, Ending of Princely Rule in India|newspaper=The Times, London, UK|date=6 October 1980|page=16}}</ref> He was educated at [[St. Lawrence College, Ramsgate]], where he would later serve as a member of the governing body.<ref name=Obituary /> He enlisted in the 1st [[Cambridgeshire Regiment]] during the [[World War I|First World War]] and saw active service on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], reaching the rank of captain and bring awarded the Military Cross for his service.<ref name=Obituary /><ref name="Roll of Honour">{{cite web|last=Brown|first=Cliff|title=Roll of Honour|url=http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Regiments/CambsRegimentAwards1914-18.html|accessdate=20 February 2014|year=2000|quote=Cambridgeshire Regiment Awards 1914-1918}}</ref>
Corfield was born in [[Heanor]], [[Derbyshire]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cambridgeshireregiment1914-18.co.uk/corfield.html|title=Corfield}}</ref> on 15 August 1893, the son of the Rev. Egerton Corfield, a [[Church of England]] [[missionary]] and later [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of [[Finchampstead]], Berkshire, in England.<ref name=Obituary>{{cite news|title=Obituary, Sir Conrad Corfield, Ending of Princely Rule in India|newspaper=The Times, London, UK|date=6 October 1980|page=16}}</ref> He was educated at [[St. Lawrence College, Ramsgate]], where he would later serve as a member of the governing body.<ref name=Obituary />

On 8 October 1914, Corfield was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 1st [[Cambridgeshire Regiment]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28928 |date=6 October 1914 |page=8010 |supp=y }}</ref> During the [[First World War]], he saw active service on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].<ref name=Obituary /><ref name="Roll of Honour">{{cite web|last=Brown|first=Cliff|title=Roll of Honour|url=http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Regiments/CambsRegimentAwards1914-18.html|access-date=20 February 2014|year=2000|quote=Cambridgeshire Regiment Awards 1914–1918}}</ref> He was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant on 16 March 1915 (antedated and made substantive from the same date on 4 August 1916),<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29198 |date=18 June 1915 |page=5960 |supp=y }}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29694 |date=4 August 1916 |page=7682 }}</ref> and promoted to the temporary rank of captain on 17 June 1915 (pay and allowances from 12 January 1916).<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29693 |date=1 August 1916 |page=7667 |supp=y }}</ref>

As a lieutenant (temporary captain), he was decorated with the [[Military Cross]] (MC) on 16 November 1916:

{{Quotation|For conspicuous gallantry during operations. He set a fine example when consolidating a trench under heavy shell fire. He also brought in a wounded man under broad daylight, and later was himself wounded in carrying out a dangerous patrol.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29824 |date=14 November 1916 |page=11049 |supp=y }}</ref>}}

Corfield was subsequently appointed the adjutant of his battalion, and was promoted to the substantive rank of captain on 29 August 1917 (precedence from 1 June 1916).<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30256 |date=28 August 1917 |page=8965 |supp=y }}</ref> He relinquished his commission on 1 September 1921.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32543 |date=8 December 1921 |page=10020 |supp=y }}</ref>


==Civil service career==
==Civil service career==
In 1920 Corfield joined a batch of recruits into the [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Indian Civil Service]]. After initial training in the [[Punjab region|Punjab]], in May 1921 Corfield was posted to [[New Delhi]] to serve as assistant private secretary to the Viceroy, [[Marquess of Reading|Lord Reading]]. After holding this position for eighteen months, he was posted back to the Punjab for district work. In 1925 he was selected to join the Foreign and Political Department of the government of India, and his first appointment was that of Secretary to the Agent for the [[Western India States Agency]].<ref name=Obituary /> He was later transferred to the North West Frontier Province as Assistant to the Political Agent in Kalat. At the end of 1928, he was transferred in the same capacity to the [[Rajputana Agency]].<ref name=Obituary /> Three years later, he was placed in charge of the Political Agency in the Southern States of Central India and Malawa, but was quickly transferred again to [[Hyderabad State]] to serve as Secretary to the Resident in the [[Hyderabad State|Nizam's Dominions]]. In the Spring of 1932 he was posted to [[Rewa (princely state)|Rewa]] to handle administrative issues in the State and was made Vice-President of the State Council. At the close of 1932 he returned to the England to serve as Adviser to the Delegation of Rewa at the third session of the [[Round Table Conferences (India)|Indian Round Table Conference]]. In 1934, Corfield was appointed Joint Secretary of the Foreign and Political Department, serving first under [[Lord Willingdon]] and later under [[Lord Linlithgow]]. In 1938 he became Resident in [[Jaipur]], and then in 1940 transferred to the Punjab States in the same capacity. In 1945 Corfield was called up to become Political Adviser to the Crown Representative, [[Lord Wavell]]. In this role, Corfield was the official link between the Viceroy and the Princes of India. When Wavell was called back to England in the Spring of 1947, and Mountbatten was installed as Viceroy, Corfield continued as the new Viceroy's Political Adviser to the Crown Representatives.<ref name=Obituary /> Corfield remained in India until the British transfer of power to the government's of [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehru]] and [[Jinnah]] was completed in August of that year.<ref name=Obituary />


=== In the British Raj ===
⚫
==Views on India==
In 1920 Corfield joined a batch of recruits into the [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Indian Civil Service]].
⚫
Corfield was concerned about the rights of the princes in the independent India. He asserted that the princely states should be allowed to remain independent if they chose to do so. He also sought and received the permission of the British government to destroy the records that had been collected concerning the princes' personal lives.<ref name=Maharanis>{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Lucy|title=Maharanis: The Extraordinary Tale of Four Indian Queens and Their Journey from Purdah to Parliament|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=suIhqtKGzNkC&pg=PA95&dq=%22conrad+corfield%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=c1gFU4zcKenlyQH0rIDYCw&ved=0CFEQ6AEwBjgo#v=onepage&q=%22conrad%20corfield%22&f=false|publisher=Penguin Press, USA|accessdate=20 February 2014|year=2006}}</ref> He felt these records could be used by the new government of India as blackmail against the princes.<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Freedom at Midnight]] |last1=Collins |first1=Larry |authorlink1= |last2=Lapierre |first2=Dominique |authorlink2= }}</ref>

After initial training in the [[Punjab region|Punjab]], in May 1921 Corfield was posted to New Delhi to serve as assistant private secretary to the Viceroy, [[Marquess of Reading|Lord Reading]]. After holding this position for eighteen months, he was posted back to the Punjab for district work. In 1925 he was selected to join the Foreign and Political Department of the government of India, and his first appointment was that of Secretary to the Agent for the [[Western India States Agency]].<ref name="Obituary" />

He was later transferred to the North West Frontier Province as Assistant to the Political Agent in Kalat. At the end of 1928, he was transferred in the same capacity to the [[Rajputana Agency]].<ref name="Obituary" /> Three years later, he was placed in charge of the Political Agency in the Southern States of Central India and Malawa, but was quickly transferred again to [[Hyderabad State]] to serve as secretary to the resident in the [[Hyderabad State|Nizam's Dominions]]. In the spring of 1932, he was posted to [[Rewa (princely state)|Rewa]] to handle administrative issues in the State and was made vice-president of the State Council.

At the close of 1932 he returned to the England to serve as adviser to the Delegation of Rewa at the third session of the [[Round Table Conferences (India)|Indian Round Table Conference]]. In 1934, Corfield was appointed joint secretary of the Foreign and Political Department, serving first under [[Lord Willingdon]] and later under [[Lord Linlithgow]]. In 1938 he became resident in [[Jaipur]], and then in 1940 transferred to the Punjab States in the same capacity. In 1945 Corfield was called up to become political adviser to the Crown Representative, [[Lord Wavell]]. In this role, Corfield was the official link between the Viceroy and the Princes of India. When Wavell was called back to England in the spring of 1947, and Mountbatten was installed as viceroy, Corfield continued as the new viceroy's political adviser to the Crown Representatives.<ref name="Obituary" />

Corfield remained in India until the British transfer of power to the governments of [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehru]] and [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah|Jinnah]] was completed in August of that year.<ref name="Obituary" />

⚫
==== Views on India ====
⚫
Corfield was concerned about the rights of the princes in the independent India. He asserted that the [[Princely state|princely states]] should be allowed to remain independent if they chose to do so. He also sought and received the permission of the British government to destroy four tons of records that had been collected concerning the princes' personal lives.<ref name="Maharanis">{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Lucy|title=Maharanis: The Extraordinary Tale of Four Indian Queens and Their Journey from Purdah to Parliament|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=suIhqtKGzNkC&pg=PA95|publisher=Penguin Press, USA|access-date=20 February 2014|year=2006|isbn=9781101174838}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mankekar |first=D. R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D14eAAAAMAAJ&q=Conrad+Laurence+Corfield+destroyed+records |title=Accession to Extinction: The Story of Indian Princes |date=1974 |publisher=Vikas Publishing House |isbn=978-0-7069-0300-3 |pages=97 |language=en}}</ref> He felt these records could be used by the new government of India as blackmail against the princes due to their often racy and scandalous content.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Larry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DgduAAAAMAAJ&q=Conrad+Corfield+bonfire+princes |title=Freedom at Midnight |last2=Lapierre |first2=Dominique |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1975 |pages=187–188|isbn=9780671220884 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKYxAQAAIAAJ&q=Conrad+Corfield+bonfire+princes |title=The Bulletin |date=1983 |publisher=J. Haynes and J.F. Archibald |pages=49 |language=en}}</ref>

=== In Britain ===
On returning to Britain, Corfield had several occupations such as governor and vice-president of [[St Lawrence College, Ramsgate|St Lawrence College]], Chairman of Wokingham Division Conservative Association from 1950 to 1954 and chairman of Yateley Industries for Disabled Girls from 1954 to 1964..<ref>{{Cite web |title=Corfield, Sir Conrad Laurence, (15 Aug. 1893–3 Oct. 1980), ICS (retired) |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/display/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-153459 |access-date=2023-09-02 |website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO |language=en}}</ref>


==Personal life==
==Personal life==
[[File:Goblet d'Alviella Wedding 1971.jpg|220px|thumb|righ|Conrad Corfiled,(middle) and wife Sylvia in 1971 at the wedding of June Corfield first son.]]
[[File:Goblet d'Alviella Wedding 1971.jpg|220px|thumb|right|Conrad Corfield (middle) and wife Sylvia in 1971 at the wedding of June Corfield's first son.]]


Corfield firstly married Phyllis Bertha Pugh, the daughter of L. P. E. Pugh, [[Queen's Counsel|KC]] on 22 December 1922.<ref name=Obituary /> The couple had one daughter and a son.<ref name=Obituary /> After his first wife died in 1932, Corfield remained a widower for several decades until marrying Sylvia Phyllis Mary Hadow, the widow of Lt. Col. Charles O'Brian Daunt, on 16 September 1961.
Corfield firstly married Phyllis Betha Pugh, the daughter of L. P. E. Pugh, [[King's Counsel|KC]] on 22 December 1922.<ref name=Obituary /> The couple had one daughter and a son.<ref name=Obituary /> After his first wife died in 1932, Corfield remained a widower for several decades until marrying Sylvia Phyllis Mary Hadow, the widow of Lt. Col. Charles O'Brian Daunt, on 16 September 1961.


Corfield died on 3 October 1980 at the Warren Lodge Rest Home, in Finchampstead.
Sylvia died on 1977 and Corfield died on 3 October 1980 at the Warren Lodge Rest Home, in Finchampstead.


==Decorations==
==Decorations==
Corfield received the following decorations<ref name=Obituary /> from the [[British people|British]] government:
Corfield received the following decorations<ref name=Obituary /> from the British government:
* WWI MC, Military Cross
* World War I MC, Military Cross
* 1937 CIE, Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire
* 1937 CIE, Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire
* 1942 CSI, Companion of the Order of the Star of India
* 1942 CSI, Companion of the Order of the Star of India
Line 25: Line 49:


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [https://secure.flickr.com/photos/herry/1812665535/ Sir Conrad Corfield and wife, on Flickr]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/herry/1812665535/ Sir Conrad Corfield and wife, on Flickr]

{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata
| NAME = Corfield, Conrad
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
⚫
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = British colonial administrator
| DATE OF BIRTH = 15 August 1893
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = 3 October 1980
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corfield, Conrad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corfield, Conrad}}
[[Category:Administrators in British India]]
[[Category:Indian Civil Service (British India) officers]]
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at St. Lawrence College, Ramsgate]]
[[Category:People educated at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Cambridgeshire Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Derbyshire]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Indian Political Service officers]]

Latest revision as of 21:52, 9 March 2024

Sir Conrad Laurence Corfield KCIE, CSI, MC, (15 August 1893 – 3 October 1980), was a British civil servant and the private secretary to several viceroys of India, including Lord Mountbatten. He also was the author of the book The Princely India I Knew, from Reading to Mountbatten.[1]

Early life and wartime service

[edit]

Corfield was born in Heanor, Derbyshire[2] on 15 August 1893, the son of the Rev. Egerton Corfield, a Church of England missionary and later rector of Finchampstead, Berkshire, in England.[3] He was educated at St. Lawrence College, Ramsgate, where he would later serve as a member of the governing body.[3]

On 8 October 1914, Corfield was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 1st Cambridgeshire Regiment.[4] During the First World War, he saw active service on the Western Front.[3][5] He was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant on 16 March 1915 (antedated and made substantive from the same date on 4 August 1916),[6][7] and promoted to the temporary rank of captain on 17 June 1915 (pay and allowances from 12 January 1916).[8]

As a lieutenant (temporary captain), he was decorated with the Military Cross (MC) on 16 November 1916:

For conspicuous gallantry during operations. He set a fine example when consolidating a trench under heavy shell fire. He also brought in a wounded man under broad daylight, and later was himself wounded in carrying out a dangerous patrol.[9]

Corfield was subsequently appointed the adjutant of his battalion, and was promoted to the substantive rank of captain on 29 August 1917 (precedence from 1 June 1916).[10] He relinquished his commission on 1 September 1921.[11]

Civil service career

[edit]

In the British Raj

[edit]

In 1920 Corfield joined a batch of recruits into the Indian Civil Service.

After initial training in the Punjab, in May 1921 Corfield was posted to New Delhi to serve as assistant private secretary to the Viceroy, Lord Reading. After holding this position for eighteen months, he was posted back to the Punjab for district work. In 1925 he was selected to join the Foreign and Political Department of the government of India, and his first appointment was that of Secretary to the Agent for the Western India States Agency.[3]

He was later transferred to the North West Frontier Province as Assistant to the Political Agent in Kalat. At the end of 1928, he was transferred in the same capacity to the Rajputana Agency.[3] Three years later, he was placed in charge of the Political Agency in the Southern States of Central India and Malawa, but was quickly transferred again to Hyderabad State to serve as secretary to the resident in the Nizam's Dominions. In the spring of 1932, he was posted to Rewa to handle administrative issues in the State and was made vice-president of the State Council.

At the close of 1932 he returned to the England to serve as adviser to the Delegation of Rewa at the third session of the Indian Round Table Conference. In 1934, Corfield was appointed joint secretary of the Foreign and Political Department, serving first under Lord Willingdon and later under Lord Linlithgow. In 1938 he became resident in Jaipur, and then in 1940 transferred to the Punjab States in the same capacity. In 1945 Corfield was called up to become political adviser to the Crown Representative, Lord Wavell. In this role, Corfield was the official link between the Viceroy and the Princes of India. When Wavell was called back to England in the spring of 1947, and Mountbatten was installed as viceroy, Corfield continued as the new viceroy's political adviser to the Crown Representatives.[3]

Corfield remained in India until the British transfer of power to the governments of Nehru and Jinnah was completed in August of that year.[3]

Views on India

[edit]

Corfield was concerned about the rights of the princes in the independent India. He asserted that the princely states should be allowed to remain independent if they chose to do so. He also sought and received the permission of the British government to destroy four tons of records that had been collected concerning the princes' personal lives.[12][13] He felt these records could be used by the new government of India as blackmail against the princes due to their often racy and scandalous content.[14][15]

In Britain

[edit]

On returning to Britain, Corfield had several occupations such as governor and vice-president of St Lawrence College, Chairman of Wokingham Division Conservative Association from 1950 to 1954 and chairman of Yateley Industries for Disabled Girls from 1954 to 1964..[16]

Personal life

[edit]
Conrad Corfield (middle) and wife Sylvia in 1971 at the wedding of June Corfield's first son.

Corfield firstly married Phyllis Betha Pugh, the daughter of L. P. E. Pugh, KC on 22 December 1922.[3] The couple had one daughter and a son.[3] After his first wife died in 1932, Corfield remained a widower for several decades until marrying Sylvia Phyllis Mary Hadow, the widow of Lt. Col. Charles O'Brian Daunt, on 16 September 1961.

Sylvia died on 1977 and Corfield died on 3 October 1980 at the Warren Lodge Rest Home, in Finchampstead.

Decorations

[edit]

Corfield received the following decorations[3] from the British government:

  • World War I MC, Military Cross
  • 1937 CIE, Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire
  • 1942 CSI, Companion of the Order of the Star of India
  • 1945 KCIE, Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Corfield, Sir Conrad (1975). The princely India I knew, from Reading to Mountbatten.
  2. ^ "Corfield".
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Obituary, Sir Conrad Corfield, Ending of Princely Rule in India". The Times, London, UK. 6 October 1980. p. 16.
  4. ^ "No. 28928". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 October 1914. p. 8010.
  5. ^ Brown, Cliff (2000). "Roll of Honour". Retrieved 20 February 2014. Cambridgeshire Regiment Awards 1914–1918
  6. ^ "No. 29198". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 June 1915. p. 5960.
  7. ^ "No. 29694". The London Gazette. 4 August 1916. p. 7682.
  8. ^ "No. 29693". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 August 1916. p. 7667.
  9. ^ "No. 29824". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 November 1916. p. 11049.
  10. ^ "No. 30256". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 August 1917. p. 8965.
  11. ^ "No. 32543". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 December 1921. p. 10020.
  12. ^ Moore, Lucy (2006). Maharanis: The Extraordinary Tale of Four Indian Queens and Their Journey from Purdah to Parliament. Penguin Press, USA. ISBN 9781101174838. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  13. ^ Mankekar, D. R. (1974). Accession to Extinction: The Story of Indian Princes. Vikas Publishing House. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-7069-0300-3.
  14. ^ Collins, Larry; Lapierre, Dominique (1975). Freedom at Midnight. Simon and Schuster. pp. 187–188. ISBN 9780671220884.
  15. ^ The Bulletin. J. Haynes and J.F. Archibald. 1983. p. 49.
  16. ^ "Corfield, Sir Conrad Laurence, (15 Aug. 1893–3 Oct. 1980), ICS (retired)". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
[edit]
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