When Speedy's parents emigrated to New Zealand, he followed and participated in the New Zealand Wars as a member of the Waikato Militia from 1864.
In 1874, he was summoned by then Orang Kaya Menteri Paduka Tuan Ngah Ibrahim Long Jaafar to quell the restive situation in Larut, Perak, over riots related to tin mining.
A native of the semi-arid part of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar, the baobab tree adansonia digitata was planted in 1871 by Speedy.