Moses Da Rocha (January 1875 – May 1942) was a Nigerian medical doctor, journalist and politician. He was among a number of medical doctors such as

Africanus Horton Surgeon-Major James Africanus Beale Horton ( – ) was a British Army officer, surgeon, writer and banker. Born in Gloucester, Sierra Leone into a Creole family who were liberated from enslavement by the Royal Navy, he began attending the SL ...

, Orisadipe Obasa and John K. Randle who combined medical practice and politics. He founded the Union of Young Nigerians in 1923 just before the elections into the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

Life

Da Rocha was born in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

to the family of Senhor Joao Esan da Rocha and Angelica Nogeira who were returnee ex-slaves from Brazil. He was the third child and second son in a family of five; the first child was the land owner Candido Da Rocha. Da Rocha attended a few primary schools in Lagos learning the standard curriculum of the 1880s such as Arithmetic, English, European history and geography and scripture. Between 1883 and 1884, he was at the Wesleyan School, Tinubu, Lagos, then C.M.S. Faji (1886) and completed primary education at St Xavier's Catholic School (1886–1888). He then went on to

CMS Grammar School, Lagos The CMS Grammar School in Bariga, a suburb of Lagos in Lagos State, is the oldest secondary school in Nigeria, founded on 6 June 1859 by the Church Missionary Society. For decades it was the main source of African clergymen and administrators in ...

for his secondary education, at CMS he was contemporaries with

Richard Akinwande Savage Richard Akinwande Savage (1874–1935) was a prominent physician, journalist and politician in Lagos, Nigeria during the colonial era. Early years Richard Akinwande Savage was born in 1874, the son of a successful merchant in Lagos descended fr ...

, S.J. Gansallo, Eric Moore, M.S. Cole and J.T. Nelson Cole. Da Rocha was raised a Catholic but at C.M.S., he was exposed learning in a Protestant school. The school's principal was Rev

Isaac Oluwole Isaac Oluwole (1852–1932) was a Nigerian bishop of Sierra Leonean and Egba people, Egba heritage. He was one of the most prominent emigrants from Sierra Leone resident in Lagos during the second half of the nineteenth century. From 1879 to 1893 ...

and among his tutors was

Henry Rawlingson Carr Henry Carr (15 August 1863 – 1945) was a Nigerian educator and administrator. He was one of the most prominent West Africans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and was a member of the legislative council in Lagos from 1918&n ...

. At C.M.S., he edited the school's newspaper the Grammarian and he was good friends with Dick Blaize, son of

Richard Beale Blaize Richard Beale Blaize (November 22, 1845 – September 21, 1904) was a Nigerian-Sierra Leonean businessman, newspaper publisher, financier, and black nationalist of Sierra Leonean and Nigerian heritage. Early life Richard Olamilege Blaize was bor ...

. He finished his education at C.M.S. in 1893 and then went to work as a medical student trainee with the Colonial Hospital, Lagos from 1894 to 1895. In 1896, he left the shores of Lagos to study medicine at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

but after a year, he dropped out choosing a career in journalism and African Nationalism. He always had interest in journalism even while studying medicine at Edinburgh; he wrote articles published in the Lagos Weekly Record, the Lagos Echo and the Lagos Standard and he was secretary of the

Henry Sylvester Williams Henry Sylvester-Williams (24 March 1867 or 15 February 186926 March 1911) was a Trinidadian lawyer, activist, councillor and writer who was among the founders of the Pan-African movement. As a young man, Williams travelled to the United States ...

led

African Association The Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa (commonly known as the African Association), founded in London on 9 June 1788, was a British club dedicated to the exploration of West Africa, with the mission of discov ...

.David Killingray (Editor). (1994). ''Africans in Britain''. Routledge. P.108 In 1895, while still in Lagos, he wrote two letters to the

Earl of Rosebery Earl of Rosebery is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created in 1703 for Archibald Primrose, 1st Viscount of Rosebery, with remainder to his issue male and female successively. Its name comes from Roseberry Topping, a hill near Archibald's w ...

earning him replies. After leaving medical studies, he chose a career in journalism and African nationalism. He was a columnist and correspondent with the

Edinburgh Evening News The ''Edinburgh Evening News'' is a daily newspaper and website based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded by John Wilson (1844–1909) and first published in 1873. It is printed daily, except on Sundays. It is owned by National World, whic ...

, London New Age, Coloured American, South African Spectator and African Mail. Da Rocha used his letters to express his opinions on various issues including his dissent against the British treatment of Oba Overami.Coombes, Annie E. 1994. ''Reinventing Africa: museums, material culture, and popular imagination in late Victorian and Edwardian England''. New Haven: Yale University Press However, in 1908, with pressure from friends and at home, he returned to his medical studies, earning his qualification in 1913. He returned to Nigeria and started a private practice. Da Rocha was a fervent Catholic and some of his writings focused on Christian and Catholic dogma including criticism of non-Catholics. He founded the Union of Young Nigerians in 1923 to energize Nigerian youths to participate in the development of the country. Though the party did not provide candidates for legislative elections, the organization gained no traction and Da Rocha's attempt to reconcile the factions of Macaulay and Egerton Shyngle with J.K. Randle, Kitoyi Ajasa, Obasa and David Taylor went nowhere.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Da Rocha, Moses 1875 births 1942 deaths Yoruba politicians Yoruba physicians 20th-century Nigerian medical doctors 19th-century Nigerian medical doctors Nigerian journalists Yoruba journalists Writers from Lagos Politicians from Lagos Alumni of the University of Edinburgh CMS Grammar School, Lagos alumni People from colonial Nigeria Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom 20th-century Nigerian male writers 20th-century Nigerian politicians Nigerian Roman Catholic writers Physicians from Lagos Nigerian people of Brazilian descent