Frederick St George de Lautour (Booth) Tucker (born: 21 March 1853, Monghyr, India)
Son of William Thornhill Tucker, a deputy commissioner in the Indian Civil Service. He was educated at Cheltenham College and, in 1875, was converted during the Moody and Sankey campaigns in London.
He served in the Indian Civil Service, but while on leave in England in 1881, he joined The Salvation Army and came to work in the legal department at International Headquarters. In 1882, he led a group of pioneer officers to India, where he became known as ‘Fakir Singh’.* His first wife, Louisa Mary, died in Bombay in February 1887. He married Emma Booth in 1888 and adopted the name Booth-Tucker. They served in India until 1891, when they were appointed to London as Commissioners for Foreign Affairs.
Subsequently, he was Territorial Commander in the United States, 1896-1904, where Emma died in 1903; Foreign Secretary, in London, 1904-7; Special Commissioner for India and Ceylon, 1907-19; and travelling Commissioner until his retirement in 1924.
In 1906, he married Colonel Minnie Reid, daughter of a one-time Acting Governor of Bombay, and they served together in India.
The Viceroy and Governor General awarded him the Kaiser-I-Hind medal (first class) ‘For Public Service in India
He wrote several poems and songs, and compiled a collection of One Hundred Favourite Songs of The Salvation Army, 1899, in the United States. He was the first editor of ‘The Officer’ magazine in 1893, and was the author of several books, including a Life of Catherine Booth, 1892; The Consul, 1903; and Muktifauj, 1923 – the story of the first 40 years of the Army in India and Ceylon. Booth-Tucker is best known for his work in the rehabilitation of the criminal tribes of India.
He was admitted to the Order of the Founder in 1920, promoted to Glory on 17 July 1929 from Stoke Newington, London and buried at Abney Park Cemetery.
’Look Eastward for his Monument’ was the tribute to Commissioner Booth-Tucker published in The War Cry, 27th July 1929
*He is remembered as one who identified himself with the Indian way of life and of dress. There are several hand-drawn pictures of him, one of which is reproduced here, "The sleeping Fakir"
