Overview

Henri Le Caron, (1841-1894), secret service agent, was born Thomas Miller Beach in Colchester, Essex. An adventurous character, he went to Paris at 19 and found employment in business connected with America and, infected by the excitement of the Civil War, crossed the Atlantic in 1861 to enlist in the Northern army.In 1864, he married a young lady who had helped him escape Confederate forces and by the end of the war held the rank of major. In 1865, he was brought into contact with Fenianism, and having learnt of the Fenian plot against Canada, wrote home to his father. Mr Beach senior told his MP who in turn told the Home Secretary, and the latter asked for more information. Le Caron, inspired by genuinely patriotic feeling, acted for the British government as a paid military spy supplying intelligence on the various Irish-American associations, of which he himself became a prominent member.For twenty-five years he lived in America, all the time carrying his life in his hands. The Parnell Commission 1889 put an end to this with Le Caron subpoenaed by The Times , and in the witness-box his story came out. With his career at an end he published the story of his life, Twenty-five Years in the Secret Service , which enjoyed an immense circulation.

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Peter Edwards is a journalist and the author of a number of books.

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