Francis (Frank) Humphreys
born on 6 July 1905 in Cork, Ireland
died on 6 May 1967 in Bicknoller, England
died on 6 May 1967 in Bicknoller, England
Education and Professional Life:
Nigeria 1928 - 1954, Colonial Service
Francis Humphreys attended
Charterhouse
public school (having been founded at London, it was located near Guildford in his time). Then, about 1923, he joined a shipping firm. He found this soul-destroying, and left the office to join the colonial service, attending a new one-year course set up at Cambridge to train officers mainly for West Africa (1927/8); he arrived in Nigeria for his first tour of duty at the age of 23, in July 1928.*
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Francis Humphreys
Francis Humphreys
.jpg)
© The Humphreys family & Kurt Müller 2020
Tour of Duty
began
ended
July 1928
February 1930
July 1930
November 1931
3:
Zaria
April 1932
November 1933
4:
Katsina
May 1934
October 1935
5:
Lokoja
March 1936
October 1937
6:
Lagos
April 1938
December 1939?
(due May 1940)
Here is a chronological outline of Frank Humphreys' "Tours of Duty" to Nigeria, showing the localities
and regions he was based in during each tour:
Kano
Jos
Wukari
Maiduguri
Kaduna
Lokoja
Lagos
Katsina
Kontagora
Clicking on a "film" button next to a place mark will start a film, set in this place.
1, 2, 3
Zaria
4, 9
5
7
6, 11
12, 13
8
8
9
10
Have a look at two of Francis Humphreys' cinefilms from Nigeria, one
taken in 1931
at
Katsina
and
one in 1948
from the area of
Kaduna
!
Francis Humphreys' House in Lagos,
*
Information provided by John Humphreys
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Tour of Duty
began
ended
8.
September 1944?
1946 ?
1947?
10.
Kaduna?
1948?
11.
Lagos?
12.
Maiduguri
May 1951
13.
Maiduguri
July 1952
Wukari
?
Jos
?
The available records have no entry for F.H.'s 9th tour of duty. However in 1946 he wrote letters from Kontagora. In early 1947 he was on leave (when he met his future wife), and was followed in the post by Dick Greswell. Much later they were both churchwardens at Bicknoller; Dick related how he had to judge his first case (a murder) assisted only by a single native clerk, and the detailed handwritten notes of his predecessor.
"
Maiduguri
is the capital of Borno State in Northern Nigeria, but we called it Bornu Province at the time." (John Humphreys)
Look at the
watercolour
of the Residency, painted by
Betty Humphreys
,
née Dickson, Francis Humphreys' wife.
Left and below:
colonial life.
The Residency
The start of World War 2 (see stage 7, Kano) would have disrupted conventional home leave; at any rate he was examined for leave in December of ’39, and if circumstances were normal this would have brought him back in May/June 1940 for his 7th tour of duty, in Kano. During this period he was “embodied” as a military officer (intelligence), but this extended his time in Nigeria beyond the normal and he was invalided out of the service (11/42) by which time he had the rank of Captain.
