Candido Da Rocha

Candido Joao Da Rocha ( 1860 - March 11, 1959)[1][2] was a Nigerian businessman, landowner and creditor who owned Water House on Kakawa Street, Lagos Island, Lagos, and was the proprietor of the now defunct Bonanza Hotel in Lagos. Da Rocha, a native of Ilesha, was born to the family of Joao Esan Da Rocha, a former slave;[3] his father was 10 years old when he was captured as a slave in about 1840 and Candido was born in the Bahia region of Brazil.[4]

Candido is the brother of Moses Da Rocha, one of the earliest Western-trained Nigerian doctors. He lived in Water House on Kakawa Street, Lagos, a house built by his father. The home was commemorated in literature by a novel, The Water House, written by Antonio Olinto. The house had a borehole and the first water fountain in Lagos Island; water was sold from his house to consumers. Some of his business interests included a restaurant called The Restaurant Da Rocha[5] and Sierra Leone Deep Sea Fishing Industries Ltd. He collaborated with Lagos businessmen J. H. Doherty and Sedu Williams on a money lending business established under the name of the Lagos Native Bank. He was a founding member of the Lagos auxiliary to the Anti Slavery and Aborigines Right Society which was headed by James Johnson and had Samuel Pearse and Sapara Williams as members.[6]

Da Rocha died in 1959 and is buried at Ikoyi Cemetery.[2] Among his children were Alexander Da Rocha, Adenike Afodu, Angelica Folashade Thomas and Louissa Turton.

References

  1. ↑ K. K. Prah (2009). Back to Africa: Afro-Brazilian returnees and their communities (Issue 69, Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society Cape Town). CASAS. ISBN 978-1-920-4474-58.
  2. 1 2 Elegbeleye, Sam Olusegun. "All Hail Candido Da Rocha". The Nigeria Nostalgia Project 1960-1980. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  3. ↑ JAMES BROOKE (March 26, 1987). "IN NIGERIA, TOUCHES OF BRAZILIAN STYLE". The New York Times. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  4. ↑ Mann, K. (2007). Slavery and the birth of an African city: Lagos, 1760-1900. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Press. P. 126
  5. ↑ Lagos Weekly Record (1897/10/30). Accessed from NewsBank/Readex, Database: World Newspaper Archive
  6. ↑ Nigerian Chronicle. (1910/09/02). The Nigerian Chronicle, 'News of the Week', P.2. Accessed from (NewsBank/Readex, Database: World Newspaper Archive
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