Candido Da Rocha

Chief Candido Joao Da Rocha ( 1860 – March 11, 1959)[1][2][3] 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. He held the chieftaincy title of the Lodifi of Ilesa.

History

Da Rocha, a native of Ilesha, was born to the family of Joao Esan Da Rocha, a former slave;[4] 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.[5]

Candido attended CMS Grammar School, Lagos where he was peers with Isaac Oluwole and Herbert Macaulay. [6]

Left is Joao Esan and right is Candido as a young boy with his mother, Angelica

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[7] 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.[8]

Da Rocha died in 1959[6] and is buried at Ikoyi Cemetery.[3] Among his children were Alexander Da Rocha, Adenike Afodu, Angelica Folashade Thomas and Louissa Turton.

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References
  1. "Da Rocha: Inside the home of Nigeria's first millionaire", www.africareporters.com.
  2. 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.
  3. Elegbeleye, Sam Olusegun. "All Hail Candido Da Rocha". The Nigeria Nostalgia Project 1960-1980. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  4. JAMES BROOKE (March 26, 1987). "IN NIGERIA, TOUCHES OF BRAZILIAN STYLE". The New York Times. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  5. Mann, K. (2007). Slavery and the birth of an African city: Lagos, 1760-1900. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Press. P. 126
  6. "A Chronicle of the Da Rocha Clan By Prof (Sir) J.T. da Rocha-Afodu, KSS, KSM". Catholic Herald Nigeria. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  7. Lagos Weekly Record (1897/10/30). Accessed from NewsBank/Readex, Database: World Newspaper Archive
  8. 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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