Conroy-Ward was born at
Timperley in
Cheshire, England. His grandparents had been entertainers, and Conroy-Ward was exposed to the theatre early on. As a child, he performed puppet shows at children's parties. He was head choirboy at his local church and attended the all-boys Altrincham Grammar School, where he performed female roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas and won the Drama Prize. At the age of 12, Conroy-Ward was able to join the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Manchester playing the juvenile roles of the Midshipmite in
H.M.S. Pinafore and Ko-Ko's assistant in
The Mikado. In 1977 he added the role of Guron in
Princess Ida to his repertory. Beginning in 1973, as Reed's understudy, he appeared frequently in all the principal comic roles: J. W. Wells in
The Sorcerer, Sir Joseph Porter in
Pinafore, Reginald Bunthorne in
Patience, the Lord Chancellor in
Iolanthe, King Gama in
Princess Ida, Ko-Ko in
The Mikado, Robin Oakapple in
Ruddigore, Jack Point in
Yeomen, and the Duke of Plaza-Toro in
The Gondoliers. Of these, Conroy-Ward most enjoyed playing Jack Point and Gama but least enjoyed playing Robin. Reed left the company, and Conroy-Ward inherited the principal comic roles, except that he yielded the roles of General Stanley to his understudy Alistair Donkin and Robin Oakapple to Peter Lyon. He continued as the principal comedian of D'Oyly Carte until it closed in 1982, after which he went into telesales before joining a music publishing company. ==Recordings==