Candido Da Rocha

Candido Joao Da Rocha (1860-1959)^{[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]

References