Jean Conan Doyle
Dame Jean Conan Doyle DBE, AE, ADC | |
|---|---|
Dame Jean Conan Doyle in the uniform of an Air Commandant of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, 1963 | |
| Birth name | Lena Annette Jean Conan Doyle |
| Other name(s) | Lady Bromet |
| Nickname(s) | Billy |
| Born | December 21, 1912 |
| Died | November 18, 1997 (aged 84) |
| Buried | All Saints Church, Minstead, New Forest |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) |
| Rank | Air Commandant |
| Known for | Women's Royal Air Force officer; literary executor of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
| Battles / wars | World War II (intelligence work) |
| Awards | Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)<br>Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)<br>Air Efficiency Award (AE) |
| Alma mater | Granville House, Eastbourne |
| Spouse(s) | Sir Geoffrey Rhodes Bromet (m. 1966) |
| Relations | Arthur Conan Doyle (father) |
| Other work | Literary executor for her father's estate |
Air Commandant Dame Lena Annette Jean Conan Doyle, Lady Bromet, DBE, AE, ADC (21 December 1912 – 18 November 1997) was a British Women's Royal Air Force officer.
The second daughter of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, she was brought up at her parents' country house, Windlesham, in Crowborough, Sussex. A spirited child, with two older brothers, she was described as a tomboy by Harry Houdini. Her childhood nickname was "Billy", and letters to her father would be signed "Your loving son". On her tenth birthday, however, she announced that she had decided to be a girl after all. She then went to her Aunt Ida's school, Granville House in Eastbourne, Sussex, where she took after her mother in developing a love of nature. As a schoolgirl she was a classmate and friend of Joan Boniface Winnifrith, who would become film and television actress Anna Lee. Winnifrith was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's god-daughter.