AMRITH “DUNOO” SINGH FAMILY OF SCHOOL ROAD, OTTAWA

 

                              

                   (Mr Amrith Dunoo Singh and his wife, Rajpathy)

 

GREAT-GRAND-FATHER, MR THAKUR SINGH, CAME FROM A

VILLAGE IN UTTAR PRADESH IN NORTH INDIA AND WORKED AS

AN INDENTURED LABOURER IN ISIPINGO

 

 

By Subry Govender

 

When Mr S S Maharaj, Mr Parthab Mungal, Mr Sivasanker Badlu and other concerned leaders initiated the building of the new Jhugroo Givernment-Aided Primary School in the area known as Tin Town in the Ottawa village, one of the residents who joined the group was Mr Amrith “Dunoo” Singh.

Mr Singh, who lived with his family in School Road, settled in Ottawa in the 1930s.

He was a specialist plumber.

I spoke to one of his sons, George Singh, about their family history just over two years ago. George Singh, who is in his mid-70s, now lives in the property in School Road with his family. His younger brother, Johnny, also lives in the property with his family.

Mr Dunoo Singh was the grandson of Mr Thakur Singh, who arrived in the former Port Natal in the 1880s to work as an indentured labourer at a sugar estate in Isipingo. Mr Thakur Singh came from a village in the state of Uttar Pradesh in North India with his wife, who was only 13-years-old.

After completing his indenture, Mr Thakur Singh moved to Kearsney on the North Coast where Mr Bharat Singh, George Singh’s grandfather, was born.

Mr Bharat Singh was the father of Mr Dunoo Singh, three other sons and two daughters. All of them were born in Kearsney.

Mr Dunoo Singh moved to Ottawa in the 1930s after he found a job as a pipe fitter at the Mount Edgecome Sugar Mill. He was 17-years-old at this time.

Mr Dunoo Singh married Rajpathy and they had five children. They were Sewsunker and Sheila, who are now late. The other children who are in the their 70s and late 60s are George, Johnny and Sita.

                                   (Eldest son, Serwsunker, (now late). 

               

Two of George’s siblings, Sewsunker passed on at the age of 81 in 2018 and Sheila passed on at the age of 60 in 2009.

(Sheila. She passed on at the age of 60 in 2009.)

The father, Dunoo Singh, died at the age of 69 in 1989 and mother Rajpathy passed on at the age of 55.

“My father became fully involved in the construction of the new Jhugroo school because he wanted all his children and other children in the community to have an opportunity to be educated. In view of this he  went the extra mile to be part of the school-building programme,” said George Singh .

“He wanted to create a better society for his family and the people of Ottawa.”

(Sita is in her late 60s)  (George.                                                                          He is 76-years-old.)

 (Johnny, who is 73-years-old)

According to George Singh, the Thakur Singh extended family has now reached five generations and number more than 300 descendants. They all live in Verulam, Tongaat, Shallcross and Reservoir Hills. Some family members have also settled in Johannesburg-Pretoria region and overseas.

George Singh disclosed that a member of his extended family had found the village in Uttar Pradesh where his great-grand-father and great-grand-mother had come from.

“We have found our roots after my cousin brother, Bheem, and his daughter, did the research and found the  village of our ancestors. A member of Bheem's family has also visited the village.” 

Bheem Singh is one of the eldest members of the extended Thakur Singh family. He has reached the age of 94 and lives with his family in Reservoir Hills. – ends – subrygovender@gmail.com May 7 2024