37.170.59.150 at 06:14, 20 September 2022

2022-09-20T06:14:17Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:44, 20 September 2022
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	* The traveller [[Isabella Bird]] comments on Captain Speedy and his troops in ''The Golden Chersonese'', and the ''Way Thither'' (1883).		* The traveller [[Isabella Bird]] comments on Captain Speedy and his troops in ''The Golden Chersonese'', and the ''Way Thither'' (1883).
	* A speech given by Speedy to the girls of [[North London Collegiate School]] in about 1883 was remembered by [[Molly Hughes]] in her ''A London Girl of the 1880s'': "A certain Captain Speedy had just returned from Abyssinia, and gave us an amusing talk about it, dressing up, like a quick-change artist, as a general, a priest, a merchant, a courtier, and so on, and throwing in some amazing details of their religious rites, wedding ceremonies, and methods of commerce. He won our gratitude, too, by saying: 'I understand that you girls have to write an account of my talk to you. Well, the very word Abyssinia means confusion, because the races are confused, the religion is confused, the mountains and valleys are confused, and I know that I am confused in addressing so many girls. So the more confused your accounts are, the better they will represent the country and the lecture.'"		* A speech given by Speedy to the girls of [[North London Collegiate School]] in about 1883 was remembered by [[Molly Hughes]] in her ''A London Girl of the 1880s'': "A certain Captain Speedy had just returned from Abyssinia, and gave us an amusing talk about it, dressing up, like a quick-change artist, as a general, a priest, a merchant, a courtier, and so on, and throwing in some amazing details of their religious rites, wedding ceremonies, and methods of commerce. He won our gratitude, too, by saying: 'I understand that you girls have to write an account of my talk to you. Well, the very word Abyssinia means confusion, because the races are confused, the religion is confused, the mountains and valleys are confused, and I know that I am confused in addressing so many girls. So the more confused your accounts are, the better they will represent the country and the lecture.'"
	* Captain Speedy was the likely inspiration for [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s short story "The Lang Men o' Larut" (1889).{{citation needed\|date=March ~~2022~~}}		* Captain Speedy was the likely inspiration for [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s short story "The Lang Men o' Larut" (1889).{{citation needed\|date=March 2019}}
	* He is mentioned in [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s ''In the South Seas'' (1896) as dressed in Abyssinian costume.		* He is mentioned in [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s ''In the South Seas'' (1896) as dressed in Abyssinian costume.
	* He appears as a hero in ''[[Flashman on the March]]'' ([[George MacDonald Fraser]], 2005).		* He appears as a hero in ''[[Flashman on the March]]'' ([[George MacDonald Fraser]], 2005).

37.170.59.150 at 06:14, 20 September 2022

2022-09-20T06:14:17Z

New page

{{Short description|British explorer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
[[File:Déjatch Alámayou and and Báshá Félika, by Julia Margaret Cameron.jpg|right|thumb|Tristram Speedy with [[Prince Alemayehu]], as photographed by [[Julia Margaret Cameron]] in 1868.]]
'''Tristram Charles Sawyer Speedy''' (also known as '''Captain Speedy'''; November 1836 – 9 August 1910) was a well-known [[English people|English]] explorer and adventurer during the [[Victorian era]].

==Life==
Speedy was born at [[Meerut]], [[India]], a son of James Havelock Speedy, an army officer (a lieutenant in the 3rd Regiment of Foot [The Buffs], born in Dublin in 1811, died 1868 Mauku New Zealand),<ref>J.M. Gullick, 'Captain Speedy of Larut', JMBRAS 26, iii, 1953, p. 7</ref> and his wife Sarah, an army officer's daughter.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.speedy.co.nz/recollections/index.htm#India_1833_|title = MRS Livingstone, I presume?}}</ref> After being educated in England, Speedy returned to India as an army officer himself. He served in the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North-West Frontier Province]] from 1854 to 1860, receiving the [[Indian Mutiny Medal|Indian Mutiny]], [[Punjab Medal|Punjab]] and Eufoszai medals.

While hunting in the [[Horn of Africa]], Speedy was summoned to the court of Emperor [[Tewodros II of Ethiopia]], who bestowed on him the title ''Basha Felika'' ('Sir Speedy' or 'Commander Speedy'). Tewodros employed him to train his army; however, Speedy fell out with the emperor and had to flee the country.<ref>Alluded to by Hormuzd Rassam, in [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y4koAAAAYAAJ&dq=Hormuzd+Rassam ''Narrative of the British Mission to Theodore, King of Abyssinia''] (London, 1869), vol. 2, p. 63</ref>

He then served as [[Locum|''locum tenens'']] and British vice-consul at the [[Red Sea]] port of [[Massawa]]. In early 1864, Speedy resigned to travel to [[New Zealand]], where he served in the Waikato Militia. He was promoted to captain in 1864, and received the [[New Zealand Medal|Maori Wars medal]].

During the [[1868 Expedition to Abyssinia]], Speedy's knowledge of Ethiopia was crucial to the commander, [[Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala|Sir Robert Napier]]. Speedy was recalled to join the expedition and received the [[Abyssinian War Medal]]. After an audience with [[Queen Victoria]], Speedy was appointed guardian to [[Prince Alemayehu]] Simeon, the young son of the late Emperor Tewodros II, who had committed suicide rather than surrender to the British. Speedy's collection of Ethiopian objects from this time is now in the [[British Museum]].<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?people=35379&peoA=35379-3-7 British Museum Collection]</ref>

Speedy married Cornelia Cotton in England, then returned to India with his wife and the Abyssinian prince. He was stationed at Sitapur as District Superintendent of the Oudh Police from 1869 to 1871. During this time, he accompanied the [[Duke of Edinburgh]] (the second son of Queen Victoria) on a shooting trip in [[Nepal]].
[[File:Portrait of Capt Tristram C S Speedy 1868.jpg|thumb|left|240px|Capt. Speedy photographed in [[Ethiopia]]n military or noble garb, 1868]]
In 1871, Speedy sailed to the [[Straits Settlements]] in [[British Malaya|Malaya]] and became superintendent of police on the island of [[Penang]]. He resigned in 1873 to raise and command a body of Indian troops to restore order in [[Larut (federal constituency)|Larut]], a mining district in the Malayan state of [[Perak]], for the [[Menteri Besar of Perak|Mentri (Chief Minister)]] Ngah Ibrahim.

In 1874, Speedy was appointed assistant British resident of Larut and established and named Malaysia's oldest town, ‘[[Taiping, Perak|Thaipeng]]’, meaning 'Heavenly Peace'. He remained there until 1877.

The following year, by then Major and Mrs Speedy spent several months exploring [[Sudan]]; his wife published a book about their travels.

In 1883–85, Speedy took part in the mission led by Vice-Admiral Sir [[William Nathan Wrighte Hewett|William Hewett]] to the court of Emperor [[Yohannes IV]] of Ethiopia to negotiate the region's disputed borders. He returned to Ethiopia in 1897 as part of [[Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell]]'s mission to the court of [[Menelik II|King Menelik]] to negotiate the [[Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1897|Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty]], which defined the border with [[Sudan]].

==Cultural references==

* During the Abyssinian War (1867–68) the correspondents [[G. A. Henty|George Henty]] of ''[[London Evening Standard|The Standard]]'' and [[Henry Morton Stanley|Henry Stanley]] of the ''[[New York Herald]]'' reported on him extensively.
* The pioneering society photographer [[Julia Margaret Cameron]] captured his image in a series of portraits in 1868.
* Tristram Speedy appears in ''A Narrative of Captivity in Abyssinia; With Some Account of the Late Emperor Theodore, His Country and People'' (1868) by [[Henry Blanc]].<ref name=blanc>{{cite book
|title=A Narrative of Captivity in Abyssinia; With Some Account of the Late Emperor Theodore, His Country and People
|author=Blanc, Henry
|publisher=BiblioBazaar
|year=1804|isbn=1-4264-3198-8}}</ref>
* The traveller [[Isabella Bird]] comments on Captain Speedy and his troops in ''The Golden Chersonese'', and the ''Way Thither'' (1883).
* A speech given by Speedy to the girls of [[North London Collegiate School]] in about 1883 was remembered by [[Molly Hughes]] in her ''A London Girl of the 1880s'': "A certain Captain Speedy had just returned from Abyssinia, and gave us an amusing talk about it, dressing up, like a quick-change artist, as a general, a priest, a merchant, a courtier, and so on, and throwing in some amazing details of their religious rites, wedding ceremonies, and methods of commerce. He won our gratitude, too, by saying: 'I understand that you girls have to write an account of my talk to you. Well, the very word Abyssinia means confusion, because the races are confused, the religion is confused, the mountains and valleys are confused, and I know that I am confused in addressing so many girls. So the more confused your accounts are, the better they will represent the country and the lecture.'"
* Captain Speedy was the likely inspiration for [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s short story "The Lang Men o' Larut" (1889).{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}
* He is mentioned in [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s ''In the South Seas'' (1896) as dressed in Abyssinian costume.
* He appears as a hero in ''[[Flashman on the March]]'' ([[George MacDonald Fraser]], 2005).
* A play entitled ''I was a Stranger'', written by Peter Spafford and based upon Speedy's Abyssinian adventure, was broadcast on the [[BBC]] on 17 May 2004.
* Captain Speedy's image is used on the controversial award-winning<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thevibes.com/articles/lifestyles/44215/timah-malaysias-award-winning-whiskey-officially-launches|title=Timah, Malaysia’s award-winning whiskey officially launches}}</ref> Timah whisky, produced by the [[Malaysia|Malaysian]] company Winepak Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Jean Southon, "The Rise and Fall of Basha Felika: Captain Speedy, His Life and Times" 2003. {{ISBN|978-0-9546337-0-7}}

==External links==
*[http://www.speedy.co.nz/recollections/index.htm#France_1818 Autobiography of Sarah Speedy, Captain Speedy's mother]
*[http://www.speedy.co.nz/inventory%20of%20a%20captains%20room.htm "Inventory of a Captain's Room" - poem by Captain Speedy]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100104112906/http://www.asiaexplorers.com/malaysia/captain_speedys_bungalow.htm Photo of Captain Speedy's bungalow in Perak]
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speedy, Tristram}}
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Sikh War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Abyssinian War]]
[[Category:English philanthropists]]
[[Category:English explorers]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:1836 births]]
[[Category:1911 deaths]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing]]

Tristram Speedy - Revision history

37.170.59.150 at 06:14, 20 September 2022

37.170.59.150 at 06:14, 20 September 2022