Elders Histories
When our elders arrived to the shores of England as young men and women they had a five year plan in which they would aquire education or just enough to build a house 'back home'. However, circumstances took over and inevitably they are now 'here to stay'
Mrs Harriet Disiré Mendy - The Gambia
View Harriets Photo Album
The Gambia (a.k.a. The Smile of Africa)
Mother: Victoria Thiaw (born 1874)
Father: Pierre Thiaw (born 1860)
Mr & Mrs Thiaw (pronounced Chiow)
Life in The Gambia / Senegal
Mrs Mendy was born in Gambia to Senegalese parents Victoria and Pierre Thiaw on the 21st September 1921. She lived in Gambia until she was 5 years old and was then taken to Dakar, Senegal, by her parents where she learned French (Senegal was colonised by the French). Mrs Mendy had 7 sisters and a brother, she was the second to last child.