Ipoh World

Nicholas introduces the following article thus: "Here is a biographical history of my great grandfather, with photos. Although FK is not directly related to Ipoh, he was active throughout Malaya as both a police officer and inspector as well as, later, a travel agent and guide. He may have visited Ipoh at some point, as he was posted in Penang for certain stretches of time. Of course, his main connection to Ipoh comes from being the father of JAS Jennings!"

Militia man, police inspector, private detective, travel guide author, fire brigade superintendent, opium agent, father of six. Frederick Kersey Jennings packed an awful lot into his extraordinarily colorful life.

F.K. was the younger of two sons born in Norfolk, England to William Howes Dundas Jennings, a customs officer for Inland Revenue, and his wife, Anna-Maria Pitts. At a very early age, he joined the Merchant Navy and began a life of adventure on the high seas. It is not known for certain whether his travels with the navy took him to the Far East, but when he was still in his teens he settled in Singapore.

His wife, Mary Stuart, insisted that he quit the Merchant Navy as a condition of marriage. According to family legend, she said with Scottish bluntness:

“Fred, I’ll no marry you unless you leave the sea!”

At the age of 19, F.K. became a member of the Singapore Volunteer Rifles. The Rifles that had been launched 10 years earlier, in 1864, with the support of the Governor, Colonel J. Butterworth, when the outbreak of riots between Chinese secret societies required the formation of a volunteer force to booster internal security.

When Jennings joined the Singapore police, criminal gangs within the secret societies were still rampant and their activities kept the force busy. By 1875, he was promoted to corporal and dispatched a battalion of the East Kent Regiment (the Buffs) to fight in the Perak War while he stayed behind to continue serving in Singapore with four artillery men.

F.K. soon saw action himself the following year, when he was part of the force that quelled the so-called Chinese Post Office Riots of 1876. The colonial government had established a new post office to handle letters and remittances to China. But the local Chinese community, preferring the letter-forwarding business of the towkays (businessmen), rejected this. Incited by the Ghee Hin secret society, the community launched a violent protest and attempted to demolish the new post office. While police battled rioters on New Market Road, Jennings had charge of the Cavanagh Bridge, preventing other protesters from joining the riots.

During his time with the police force, F.K. received a number of promotions and served in other parts of Malaya, including Penang and Malacca, off and on for a number of years. Following his transfer to Penang as sub-inspector, the Penang Daily Times in 1880 commended his “zeal and efficiency” in the capture of a local murderer. Always publicly minded, during his time in Penang he produced a pamphlet containing distances and fares within the town as a service to residents in dealing with hack gharry (taxi) drivers. He also served as warden master elect of the Royal Prince of Wales Lodge (Freemasons).

By 1890, Jennings was back in Singapore as Inspector. That year, he also had personal charge of Russian Prince Nicholas, the Czarevitch, during his visit to the region. The prince later sent him a diamond ring as thanks for his service.

But F.K.’s work continued to involve him in high-profile crimes. One such case found him investigating the grisly murder of a Burmese man, who had been stabbed repeatedly in the heart after a disturbance at a local shop-house. He also led a major raid on a large gambling club and arrested 18 inhabitants who the press described as towkays, clerks and bill collectors.

Jennings didn’t play favorites in the line of duty. A report in 1896 tells of how the Inspector took even a man as powerful as Arnot Reid, a prominent Singapore newspaper journalist, to task, charging him with assault:

“I was in charge of the Police regulating the traffic of carriages on the road past the Military Guard House, at Government House,” Jennings testified. “Mr. Arnot Reid came up to me and asked why I stopped his carriage. He said he was Arnot Reid of the Straits Times. He was very much excited. He wanted his carriage to pass the carriage in front of him. This I would not allow him to do. He then said, ‘You scoundrel,’ and sprang at my throat. He seized me by the collar of my tunic. I tried to shake him off. He held to me, and said he would drag me before the Governor. While trying to free myself, two gentlemen and a lady came up and took him away. I remained regulating the carriage traffic. I have several witnesses near me. I was in full dress uniform, sword and helmet. I charge him with assaulting a public servant in the execution of his duty.”

After Reid pleaded guilty and expressed regret for what happened, Jennings dropped the charge. Reid came to respect the Inspector and would later work with him on local volunteer activities.

One of F.K.’s career highlights came in 1897, when he led a Straits Armed Police contingent to England for the celebration of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. Sailing on the S.S. Japan, the contingent picked up additional detachments in Penang and Ceylon before landing in England. Upon arrival, Jennings, given the military rank of lieutenant for the occasion, presented his men for inspection and led them on parade before the Queen at Windsor Castle. In recognition of his service, F.K. received a Jubilee medal from Her Majesty, who later sent him a personally signed photograph of herself.

The trip overseas was not without incident. An account in the Straits Times details a humorous account of his mistaken identity with a famous South African politician and mining magnate:

“While in London, Mr. Jennings was frequently taken by the crowd for Mr. Cecil Rhodes. Now and then, said Mr. Jennings, it became a perfect nuisance. People shouted, ‘Don’t let Labby sit on you, Sir’ (a reference to Henry Labouchere, one of Rhodes’ staunchest critics), ‘Good luck to you, Sir,’ and so on. In Ceylon, Mr. Jennings was interviewed, and asked whether he really was Cecil Rhodes, but he was able to give satisfactory assurances to the contrary.” When he retired from the Singapore Police as Chief Inspector in 1899, after 24 years with the force, F.K. was given a warm send off at several formal receptions attended by police and both civilian and military friends. Jennings received a handsome gold watch and pipe, while his wife, Mary, was presented with a fine diamond and ruby ring. Jennings’ “unswerving adherence to the strict line of his duty,” commented the Singapore Free Press, “has earned for him the respect of his superior officers and the public.”

Although he was retiring from the police, Jennings’ adventurous ways were far from over. One month after leaving the force, he opened his own travel company. The Passenger and Tourist Agency provided guides, interpreters and made all travel arrangements for customers, as well as providing personally conducted tours through Java, Borneo, Sumatra, Siam, Johore and the British Protected Malay States.

In 1900, drawing on all of the knowledge gained on his work and personal travels throughout the region, F.K. published a travel book. Jennings’ Guide gave tourists background on a variety of locations, including historical and cultural information and details on hotels and other lodgings, restaurants and activities. It also provided steam ship and railway time tables and a “handy sketch map of Singapore.”

That year, Jennings was pressed into service again with the Singapore Volunteer Rifles. With the Second Anglo-Boer War underway, troops were needed in South Africa to bolster the British forces. Working with his old nemesis, newspaper editor Arnot Reid, F.K., acting as Honorary Secretary, set about enlisting recruits. According to the Straits Times, Jennings did “a good deal of useful work in raising and training the Chinese Company of the Singapore Volunteer Infantry” for the war effort.

With skills acquired from years on the police force, F.K. felt he could also still do useful work in the criminal field. In 1901, he formed his own detective agency and began assisting clients with private investigations. Of particular note, Jennings received a reward of $2,500 from the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank for his work leading to the successful arrest and conviction of burglars who robbed the bank of over $250,000.

Around this time, Jennings’ law enforcement expertise and investigative instincts made him a natural choice for the Opium Farmers of Singapore. Opium, it should be noted, was perfectly legal at the time and its trade in Singapore was fostered by the colonial government, which had a monopoly. The Opium Farmers required Jennings’ services to maintain their strict control of the local market.

An advertisement in the Singapore Free Press in 1904 offers a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons who conspired to smuggling and import the drug contrary to the provisions of the Opium Ordinance. The reward notice is signed “F.K. Jennings, Prosecuting Agent for the Opium Farmers.”

Always civic-minded, F.K. also that year was made the Acting Superintendent of the Singapore Fire Brigade. It is not known how this posting came about, or whether it was a paid or volunteer position, but it is interesting to note a subsequent family connection. The following year, one Montague Pett emigrated to Singapore from England to become the fire bridge’s Chief Superintendent. Quite possibly through his acquaintance of Jennings, Pett met and married F.K.’s daughter Edith.

By 1915, Jennings’ health was suffering and he travelled back to England on July 9 to recuperate. He died on September 9 in Ipswich, leaving behind in Singapore the six children born to him and Mary Stuart.

F.K.’s adventurous life deeply influenced at least one of his children. As a young journalist, working for the Singapore Free Press, Jennings’ eldest son began writing short stories for the newspaper under the pen name “Southern Cross.” One series of such stories, titled “Tales Told by a Police Officer,” was a collection of wild accounts of murders, bank robberies and other crimes told by a father to his wide-eyed son. The writer was John Arthur Stuart (Jack) Jennings, who later became editor of The Times of Malaya and a prominent resident of Ipoh.

From left to right the photos show:

A Young Frederick Kersey Jennings in the Uniform of the Singapore Rifles.

A Debonair Frederick Kersey Jennings relaxing from his duties.

Frederick Kersey Jennings the Gentleman Detective.

Frederick Kersey Jennings Meets Nature.

The Cover of Jennings Guide to Singapore, Penang, Malacca and the Federated Malay States of Perak, Selangor, Pahang, Negri Sembilan and Sungai Ujong.

To read the digitised version of Jennings Guide on the Internet, click here.

To learn more about J A S Jennings, click here.