John Michael Ward Bingham, 7th Baron Clanmorris (3 November 1908 – 6 August 1988) was a one time

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

counterspy and an English novelist who published 17 thrillers,

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

s, and

spy novel Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intellig ...

Personal life

Bingham was the son of Arthur Bingham, 6th Baron Clanmorris, and Mowbray Leila Cloete. He was educated at

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

, and married Madeleine Mary Ebel, daughter of Clement Ebel, on 28 July 1934. His wife worked for the security services and was a playwright and biographer. Bingham fought in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

, and was attached to the General Staff. He succeeded as 7th Baron Clanmorris on 24 June 1960.

Background

During the

and for two decades after 1950, Bingham worked for

, and had long been said to be the inspiration for

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. A "sophist ...

's character George Smiley. In 1999, le Carré confirmed that Bingham had been an inspiration for Smiley and went further in 2000, writing in an introduction to a reissue of one of Bingham's novels: "He had been one of two men who had gone into the making of George Smiley. Nobody who knew John and the work he was doing could have missed the description of Smiley in my first novel".John le Carré, Introduction to John Bingham, ''My Name is Michael Sibley'', London: Pan Classic Crime (2000) John le Carré wrote that Bingham encouraged him to write his first novel, '' Call for the Dead'' (1961), and to remain an active MI5 officer whilst doing so; and in a BBC Radio '' Front Row'' interview in 2009, said that Bingham's successful thriller novels, published when the two men worked together at MI5 in the 1950s, inspired him to write his first two books.

Jack King speculation

In February 2014, MI5 released files at the

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

on the "Fifth Column" operation, which aimed to identify British Nazi sympathizers during the Second World War. Some newspapers named Bingham as the agent, known as "Jack King", at the heart of the operation, but the release of more files in October 2014 corrected this, and named the agent as

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. He has amassed more than 700 film and television credits since his debut in 1978, making him one of the most prolific English-speaking screen actors of all time. Roberts' career ...

, a former bank clerk from Epsom. Bingham was recruited into MI5 by Maxwell Knight to work in the counter-intelligence and political infiltration-based M Section. He had volunteered to serve in the army, but a sight defect prevented him from serving in the field. Prior to his service in MI5, Bingham had been the art editor of the '' Sunday Dispatch''. Bingham's first novel, '' My Name Is Michael Sibley'' (1952), was unusual for its time in suggesting that the British police might not always play fairly.

Selected publications

Crime fiction

* '' My Name Is Michael Sibley'' (1952) * '' Five Roundabouts to Heaven'' (1953) ''The Tender Poisoner'' **television version: ''The Tender Poisoner'' episode of ''

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 a ...

'' (1962) **film version: '' Married Life'' (2007) * '' The Third Skin'' (1954) a.k.a. ''Murder is a Witch'' * '' The Paton Street Case'' (1955) a.k.a. ''Inspector Morgan’s Dilemma'' * '' Murder Off the Record'' (1957) a.k.a. ''Marion'' **television version: ''Captive Audience'' episode of ''

'' (1962) * '' Murder Plan Six'' (1958) * '' Night's Black Agent'' (1961) * ''

A Case of Libel A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'' (1963) * '' A Fragment of Fear'' (1965) **film version: '' Fragment of Fear'' (1970) * '' The Double Agent'' (1966) * '' I Love, I Kill'' (1968) a.k.a. ''Good Old Charlie'' * '' Vulture in the Sun'' (1971) * ''God's Defector'' (1976) a.k.a. ''Ministry of Death'' * ''The Marriage Bureau Murders'' (1977) * ''Deadly Picnic'' (1980) * ''Brock'' (1981) * ''Brock and the Defector'' (1982)

Non Fiction

* ''The Hunting Down of

Peter Manuel Peter Thomas Anthony Manuel (13 March 1927 – 11 July 1958) was an American-Scottish serial killer who was convicted of murdering seven people across Lanarkshire and southern Scotland between 1956 and his arrest in January 1958, and is believ ...

'' (1973) (written in association with ex-Detective Superintendent William Muncie)

References

External links

John Michael Ward Bingham, 7th Baron Clanmorris of Newbrook
at thepeerage.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bingham, John 1908 births 1988 deaths MI5 personnel British spy fiction writers English crime fiction writers English thriller writers Royal Engineers officers Clanmorris, John Bingham, 7th Baron Members of the Detection Club 20th-century English novelists English male novelists 20th-century English male writers