author
Henri Le Caron
1841–1894
Best known as Major Henri Le Caron, this restless Englishman lived a remarkable double life as a Fenian insider and British informer. His story moves through the American Civil War, Irish nationalism, and the political drama that shook late Victorian Britain.
1 Audiobook
Twenty-five years in the Secret Service: The recollections of a spy
by Henri Le Caron
About the author
Born in Colchester, England, on September 26, 1841, Henri Le Caron was the alias of Thomas Billis Beach, also known as Thomas Miller Beach. As a young man he went first to Paris and then to the United States, where the upheaval of the American Civil War helped shape the adventurous path he would follow.
He became deeply involved with Irish nationalist circles in America, especially the Fenian movement, while secretly passing information to British and Canadian authorities for many years. That double role made him a controversial figure: to some he was a skilled intelligence agent, while to others he was an informer who undermined Irish nationalist efforts.
Le Caron is remembered most for the dramatic public exposure of his secret work during the Parnell Commission in the late 1880s, when his testimony drew wide attention. He later published memoirs, Twenty-Five Years in the Secret Service: The Recollections of a Spy, and died in London on April 1, 1894.