Air Commandant Dame Jean Conan Doyle 1912-1997
Air Commandant Dame Jean Conan Doyle 1912-1997 is an article written by Christopher Roden published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 8, 1998).
This article is an obituary tribute to Dame Jean Conan Doyle, recalling her distinguished Royal Air Force career and her role in preserving and managing Arthur Conan Doyle's legacy. It also offers a personal remembrance of her kindness, generosity, and support for those working on her father's life and writings.
Obituary
Jean Lena Annette Bromet [Conan Doyle], our last direct link with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, died in London on 18 November 1997.
Jean was exceptionally successful in her chosen career, attaining the rank of Director of the Women's Royal Air Force in 1963. She was appointed OBE in 1948, and advanced to DBE in 1963. In 1965, then aged 53, she married Air Vice-Marshal Sir Geoffrey Bromet, to whom she was devoted. His death in 1983 came as a devastating blow to her.
Despite her many preferred private interests and her involvement with two favourite charities, Jean was forced to devote a great deal of time and energy to the affairs of her father's estate. Indeed, if Conan Doyle himself had felt a dislike of Sherlock Holmes, his daughter had even more reason to do so given the demands made on her time by the fictional creation. Yet she always had time for those who wanted to write or talk about her father or his work-inviting many to her flat in Cadogan Square: a never-to-be forgotten joy for those fortunate enough to share it.
I will remember her many kindnesses; innumerable pleasant hours spent chatting, both in Cadogan Square and on the telephone; her joy at the unveiling of the commemorative plaque at 2 Upper Wimpole Street, and the thrill she got from sitting in the office where, all those years before, her father had sat waiting for those elusive patients to arrive; and our final meeting, when we walked round the gardens of Groombridge Place on a sunny summer afternoon.
It is time to say a final, somewhat sad, thank you to a genuine lady, without whose help and encouragement my own work for this Society would have been somewhat less enjoyable.
C.R.
- Article courtesy Christopher Roden, founder of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003).
