Conrad Corfield: Difference between revisions
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==Civil service career== |
==Civil service career== |
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In 1920 Corfield joined |
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 /> |
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==Views on India== |
==Views on India== |
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Revision as of 05:01, 5 November 2014
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
Corfield was born on 15 August 1893, the son of the Rev. Egerton Corfield, a Church of England missionary and later rector of Finchampstead, Berkshire, in England.[2] He was educated at St. Lawrence College, Ramsgate, where he would later serve as a member of the governing body.[2] He enlisted in the 1st Cambridgeshire Regiment during the First World War and saw active service on the Western Front, reaching the rank of captain and bring awarded the Military Cross for his service.[2][3]
Civil service career
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.[2] 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.[2] 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.[2] Corfield remained in India until the British transfer of power to the government's of Nehru and Jinnah was completed in August of that year.[2]
Views on India
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.[4] He felt these records could be used by the new government of India as blackmail against the princes.[5]
Personal life
Corfield firstly married Phyllis Bertha Pugh, the daughter of L. P. E. Pugh, KC on 22 December 1922.[2] The couple had one daughter and a son.[2] 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.
Decorations
Corfield received the following decorations[2] from the British government:
- WWI 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
- ^ The princely India I knew, from Reading to Mountbatten.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Brown, Cliff (2000). "Roll of Honour". Retrieved 20 February 2014.
Cambridgeshire Regiment Awards 1914-1918
- ^ Moore, Lucy (2006). Maharanis: The Extraordinary Tale of Four Indian Queens and Their Journey from Purdah to Parliament. Penguin Press, USA. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
- ^ Collins, Larry; Lapierre, Dominique. Freedom at Midnight.