Ottawa Pioneer Residents

          A PIONEER OTTAWA FAMILY THAT MADE ITS MARK  (Grandfather Mr Bhatwa Mathura and wife, Dhulari, with their children and grand-children. From L to R: Harilall, Magunlall, Luxmi aka Sursuthie, Leela. Seated centre: Heeralall - father of Shuneel, and grandchildren - Shobna, Anitha and baby Kasturie being carried by Leela.) (The legend of the Mathura family - Mr Bhatwa Mathura with his wife, Dhulari)  By Subry Govender One of the pioneer indentured families that earned itself the title of “Royal Family” used to live in Kissoon Road in Ottawa, north of Durban in South Africa, since the early 1920s. The family in question was the Mathuras', whose ancestors arrived from a village in the north Indian state of Bihar sometime in the late 1890s. (Mr Bhatwa Mathura and wife, Dhulari, with sons, daughter-in-laws and grand-children) After their stint on the sugar estates, the second and third generation descendants used to live a lifestyle that caught the attention and admiration o

 THE NAIDOO FAMILY OF THE FORMER TIN TOWN IN OTTAWA WHO LIVED NEAR THE RIVER                                          (First generation indentured parents - Mr Seethyah and Mrs Seethamma Naidoo) (Eldest son Jack Naidoo and and his sister, Amoy, who is 91-years-old)    (Second eldest son, Akloo "Tip Top" Naidoo with his sisters - L to R: Savithree, Baby, Amoy and Saroj) Two second generation descendants of indentured labourers who lived with their large family near the river in the Tin Town area of Ottawa became successful experts in the sugar industry and ended their careers working at the Mount Edgecombe Experiment Station. (Ruthnam, aka as George, with wife Lilly)  They are brothers, Akloo “Tip Top” Naidoo and Ruthnam George Naidoo, who rose up the ladder in the sugar industry despite the tough conditions under which they grew up in their early lives. Tip Top and George,   who each worked at the Mount Edgecombe Experiment Station for more than 35 years, earned the res