John Fryer Thomas Keane

John Fryer Thomas Keane (4 October,1854 - 1 September,1937), popularly known as Jack Keane, was a Yorkshire clergyman’s son who went to sea at the age of twelve. In 1877, still only 23 but having had his share of adventures, he visited Mecca and Medina, one of the few Europeans ever to have done so at that time.

Early life

Jack Keane was born in the port town of Whitby, the son of an Irish parson, The Reverend Dr. William Keane. He was the eldest of five. His father died in 1873, when Keane was only 19 years old.

In his book "On Blue-water", Keane tells us that he attended "a large and well-known public school". It is not know which school, although it is known that it was not Charterhouse, which both his father and younger brother Robert attended. He was soon expelled for breaking bounds; an event which seems to have determined him to "be off on my own account".

Keane claims to have run away to sea, but the evidence suggests that at the age of twelve he was put onto a collier brig by his father, to cool his temper and curb his bad behaviour. Upon his return he was given into the hands of a private tutor, an elderly parson in a remote part of the East Riding of Yorkshire. This had little effect on the young Keane, who soon took up with local poachers and huntsmen.

Keane's whereabouts throughout his early life are not entirely known, but in 1868, at the age of fourteen, he was living with wealthy relatives in Madras.

ea Voyages

Following his brief stint on the collier brig, Keane's next trip to sea was at the age of 18 as a "premium apprentice" on a barque travelling between India and England. He gained his 2nd Mate's certificate.

In the years to come, Keane served on a whaler in the South Seas and Arctic, voyaged to the Arctic, Black Sea and China. He spent time in England in the Royal Naval Reserve and journeyed to Demerara in British Guyana where he worked on a sugar plantation for six months. There were also various trading voyages around the North Sea and several voyages to Bengal, via the Cape of Good Hope.

Mecca

In late summer, 1877, Keane travelled to Alexandria by Steamer, and from there to Jeddah. In Jeddah he was able to render some small service to an Indian Emir, who permitted him to join his party who were making pilgrimage to Mecca.

Some of Keane’s experiences in Mecca were quite extraordinary. He witnessed a great flood and the strange sight of pilgrims swimming around the Kabba. He was denounced as a suspected Christian by schoolchildren (he was actually a Muslim convert) and was stabbed during his pilgrimage to Medina. Most surprisingly of all, he discovered a supposedly British lady living alone in the middle of Mecca (in 1877!). Exactly who she was and how she got there is not entirely certain to this day.

Keane could speak Hindustani, but only rudimentary Arabic. He passed himself off in Mecca as a pilgrim from Bombay or, when this would not have passed muster, as a resident of a country called "North". He appeares to have mastered Islamic ritual and prayer by copying what he saw; although he claims to have made earlier preparation for this adventure by closely observing the various Muslim crews with whom he previously served. When he made errors he claimed to be a recent convert to Islam, which seems to have generated admiration and assistance rather than suspicion.

Islam

Was Keane a Muslim? For western ears, he seems to want to give the impression that it is all a great adventure and he is "pretending"; but he makes many admiring remarks about Islam and Islamic culture that seem to show another side. In particular, it appears that he made Islamic prayer when quite alone and not overseen, suggesting that his conversion was sincere in his own mind at that time.

Later life

On his return to England, Keane published two books about his visit to the Hijaz. These were "Six Months in Meccah" (sic) and "My Journey to Medinah".

General References

*T"(sic)" F Keane, "Six Months in Meccah: An Account of the Mohammedan Pilgrimage to Meccah", Tinsley Brothers, 1881.
*John F Keane, "My Journey to Medinah: Describing a Pilgrimage to Medinah", Tinsley Brothers, 1881.
*J F Keane, "On Blue-Water. Some Narratives of Sport and Adventure in the Modern Merchant Service.", 1883.
*John F Keane, "Three Years of a Wanderer's Life", Ward & Downey, 1887.
*John Keane, "Six Months in the Hijaz: Journeys to Makkah and Madinah 1877-1878", Introduction by William Facey, Barzan, 2006, ISBN 0-9549701-1-X.
(Includes complete facsimile editions of "Six Months in Meccah" and "My Journey to Medinah")