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SPEEDY, Tristram Charles Sawyer ('Captain Speedy', 1836-1910). An archive of autograph manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, research papers and other documents relating particularly to Speedy's connections with Abyssinia and Prince Alamayu, contained in 7 files, 7 volumes and one envelope, and comprising:
AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS BY SPEEDY, including: an autograph letterbook, 17-28 December 1883, approximately 124 leaves, 8vo; autograph notebook, including a narrative relating to Abyssinia and the life of King Theodore [Tewodros], and vocabulary tables in Amharic and 6 other languagues, approximately 250 pages, 4to; autograph manuscript, lectures on Abyssinia, approximately 200 pages, 8vo; autograph manuscript (wet copy), a memoir, approximately 80 pages, 4to (fragile, some loss of legibility in places); with a related typescript, approximately 240 pages, 4to;
CORRESPONDENCE, the majority addressed to Speedy, 1871-1888, the subjects chiefly being the education of Prince Alamayu, and Speedy's appointments, correspondents including Sir Stafford Northcote (1874, referring to Alamayu, 'His wish is to remain at Cheltenham ... His fancy is, to be a sailor; but this will not do'), Fritz Ponsonby (sending 'one of Alamayou's books') and other royal equerries, A.W. Clarke (at Government House, Singapore), and others, including a number of Government officials, communicating in 1871 Speedy's appointment as Deputy Commissioner of Police and Coroner at Penang, informing him on 30 December 1871 that 'The Lords of the Treasury have decided that Prince Alamayou of Abyssinia should be delivered for his education to the care of the ... Principal of the College at Cheltenham'; there are six letters to Speedy in ge'ez [Ethiopic script] in 1884, including a series from Ras Aloolah, General Commanding the Army, sending greetings; a retained copy of a letter by Speedy himself, 20 October 1888, presses his claim to Government recognition on the basis of his services in Abyssinia; altogether approximately 50 letters, loose and pasted in to an album, 4to;
PHOTOGRAPHS, including four depicting Speedy in Abyssinian dress, four of Alamayu, and 8 others; printed books, including Anecdotes of Alamayu, the late King Theodore's Son By C.C., dedicated to Speedy; an archive of research papers relating to Speedy, including transcriptions and photocopies of letters and documents; and related items. Provenance. T.C.S. Speedy; and by descent.
Captain Speedy, giant, fearless, restless, and a brilliant linguist, served in a number of capacities in India, in New Zealand, in Penang and the Sudan; but the present archive focuses on the most celebrated aspect of his career, his connection with Abyssinia. Having learnt the language and customs of the country and befriended the Emperor Theodore whilst training his army in 1861-3, Speedy returned with General Sir Robert Napier on the Magdala Expedition in 1868 as civilian interpreter; after the capture of Magdala and Theodore's suicide, Speedy was entrusted with the upbringing of his son, Prince Alamayu (1861-79), whom he treated as his own son until, after his departure in 1871 to take up an appointment in Penang, the British goverment insisted on the boy's return to England; Alamayu died of pleurisy in Leeds, 14 November 1879. Speedy returned to Abyssinia in 1883-5 as political advisor to Vice-Admiral William Hewitt on a diplomatic mission, and again in 1897.
AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS BY SPEEDY, including: an autograph letterbook, 17-28 December 1883, approximately 124 leaves, 8vo; autograph notebook, including a narrative relating to Abyssinia and the life of King Theodore [Tewodros], and vocabulary tables in Amharic and 6 other languagues, approximately 250 pages, 4to; autograph manuscript, lectures on Abyssinia, approximately 200 pages, 8vo; autograph manuscript (wet copy), a memoir, approximately 80 pages, 4to (fragile, some loss of legibility in places); with a related typescript, approximately 240 pages, 4to;
CORRESPONDENCE, the majority addressed to Speedy, 1871-1888, the subjects chiefly being the education of Prince Alamayu, and Speedy's appointments, correspondents including Sir Stafford Northcote (1874, referring to Alamayu, 'His wish is to remain at Cheltenham ... His fancy is, to be a sailor; but this will not do'), Fritz Ponsonby (sending 'one of Alamayou's books') and other royal equerries, A.W. Clarke (at Government House, Singapore), and others, including a number of Government officials, communicating in 1871 Speedy's appointment as Deputy Commissioner of Police and Coroner at Penang, informing him on 30 December 1871 that 'The Lords of the Treasury have decided that Prince Alamayou of Abyssinia should be delivered for his education to the care of the ... Principal of the College at Cheltenham'; there are six letters to Speedy in ge'ez [Ethiopic script] in 1884, including a series from Ras Aloolah, General Commanding the Army, sending greetings; a retained copy of a letter by Speedy himself, 20 October 1888, presses his claim to Government recognition on the basis of his services in Abyssinia; altogether approximately 50 letters, loose and pasted in to an album, 4to;
PHOTOGRAPHS, including four depicting Speedy in Abyssinian dress, four of Alamayu, and 8 others; printed books, including Anecdotes of Alamayu, the late King Theodore's Son By C.C., dedicated to Speedy; an archive of research papers relating to Speedy, including transcriptions and photocopies of letters and documents; and related items. Provenance. T.C.S. Speedy; and by descent.
Captain Speedy, giant, fearless, restless, and a brilliant linguist, served in a number of capacities in India, in New Zealand, in Penang and the Sudan; but the present archive focuses on the most celebrated aspect of his career, his connection with Abyssinia. Having learnt the language and customs of the country and befriended the Emperor Theodore whilst training his army in 1861-3, Speedy returned with General Sir Robert Napier on the Magdala Expedition in 1868 as civilian interpreter; after the capture of Magdala and Theodore's suicide, Speedy was entrusted with the upbringing of his son, Prince Alamayu (1861-79), whom he treated as his own son until, after his departure in 1871 to take up an appointment in Penang, the British goverment insisted on the boy's return to England; Alamayu died of pleurisy in Leeds, 14 November 1879. Speedy returned to Abyssinia in 1883-5 as political advisor to Vice-Admiral William Hewitt on a diplomatic mission, and again in 1897.
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