Tristram Charles Sawyer Speedy
1836–1910
Army officer and colonial official. Served in army in India, 1854–60. Assisted King Tewodros of Ethiopia in training his army, 1860–3. Vice-consul, Sudan, 1863. In January 1864, resigned and went to New Zealand where he served in the militia, 1864 to December 1866. Moved to Australia. Returned to Ethiopia in early 1868 to serve as civilian interpreter for an expedition to rescue imprisoned British subjects; appointed guardian to Ethiopian Prince Alämayyähu. District superintendent of Oudh police until 1869; commissioner of police, Penang, 1871. Became involved in settling disputes in neighbouring, independent Perak, and was appointed assistant resident there in 1874. During Perak War of 1875–6, was in conflict with other British officials; resigned in 1877. Lived on his wife’s inherited income. Participated in two more diplomatic missions in Africa.
Source
Encyclopaedia Aethiopica s.v. Tewodros, Alämayyähu, ODNB.
Bibliography
Encyclopaedia Aethiopica. Editor-in-chief, Siegbert Uhlig. 2 vols to date. Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz Verlag. 2003–.
ODNB: Oxford dictionary of national biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000. (Revised edition.) Edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. 60 vols. and index. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2004.
letter
