Mansfield Smith Cumming
Captain Sir Mansfield George Smith Cumming, KCMG, CB was the first director of what would become the Secret Intelligence Service , also known as MI6. In this role he was particularly successful in building an imperial intelligence service.
He was born into a middleclass family. His father was the great grandson of John Smith , the second son of Abel Smith the Nottingham banker. Smith joined the Royal Navy and underwent training in Britannia at Dartmouth Royal Naval College from the age of twelve and was appointed acting sublieutenant in 1878. He was posted to HMS Bellerophon in 1877, and for the next seven years served in operations against Malay pirates and in Egypt in 1883. However, he increasingly suffered from severe seasickness, and in 1885 was placed on the retired list as unfit for service. Prior to being appointed to run the Secret Service Bureau , he was working on boom defences in Bursledon on the River Hamble.
Source: Wikipedia