Sons shares memories of his father who came on the last ship to British Guiana to work as an indentured labourer
By Ashraf Dabie
While history books tell the tales of the arrival and presence of Indian indentureds to British Guiana (BG), the great majority of Indo-Guyanese are still unaware of their direct links to the motherland.
However, there are some families who are fortunate to have in possession immigration documents of their ancestors, which have helped them to trace their roots to ancestral villages and connect with relatives in India.
Then there are some who cherish stories of their ancestors passed down from generation to generation. One such family is the Rambhrose family.
Arriving on the last ship, the SS Ganges, in 1917 to British Guiana was Rambhrose Gopi, who was only three years old at the time of his arrival here. Rambhrose journeyed to the New World with his mother, leaving behind a father who refused to board the ship.
Upon arrival, Rambhrose’s mother was deployed to the plantation in Albion, Corentyne, Berbice, where she worked as a midwife.
Rambhrose worked on the plantation all his life. He got married to the daughter, named Sukhia, of another Indian immigrant. Rambhrose Gopi died in 1996.
In an interview with Sunday Times Magazine, Mahadeo Rambhrose, the youngest son of Rambhrose’s six children who is currently attached to the Guyana Post Office, said he has a faint recollection of his father and grandparents. However, the 50-year-old said he is proud of the fact that he is a direct descendant of Indian indentured labourers, who contributed to the building of our nation.
Mahadeo mentioned that he and his siblings (four sisters and one brother) grew up on the plantation, which was later called an estate, where his father worked as a labourer. Notably, his father continued to work on the estate, not as a labourer, but as a “watchman”.
“I am grateful to have inherited the stories, traditions and beliefs of my ancestors from India. I feel a direct connection to the historical artefacts and stories from the time of indentureship, given that it chronicles the experiences of my family,” expressed Mahadeo.
The Last Ship
The SS Ganges was the last ship to bring Indian indentured labourers to British Guiana. It arrived in Georgetown on April 18, 1917 with 437 men, women and children destined for various plantations.
The ship had left India just four days before the Abolition Act was signed in the Indian Parliament on March 12, 1917. After sailing from Calcutta with 124 persons, or just over a third of the labour contingent, it then docked in Madras to pick up the rest of the indentured workers before setting sail for the Caribbean.
Among the last arrivals there were 39 children, 22 of whom were boys; and of the adults, there were 268 men and 130 women.
The largest contingent of 218 (including their children) was contracted to 11 Demerara plantations stretching from Cane Grove to De Kinderen. The largest batch – 28 persons — went to work at Non Pareil; and just two persons, most likely a married couple, were contracted to Diamond Estate.
Nine Berbice plantations received 150 of the last arrivals, with the majority — a group of 26 — being contracted to the Port Mourant Estate; and 69 of the labourers were assigned to four estates in Essequibo.
The SS Ganges sailed on to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, where 389 adults and 32 children disembarked. With this final stop, the transportation of Indian indentured labourers to the British colonies ceased.
Interestingly, this last group of labourers served a shortened period of indentureship. An Act in the British Parliament brought the scheme to an official end, and all indenture contracts were cancelled on January 1, 1920. (Text on ‘the last ship’ by Ryhaan Shah)
