Valiama

Who is Valiama?

Lady Valiamma Narain was the Tamil Matriarch, a Tamil East Indian immigrant coming from the city of Nagappattinam in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. Valiamma spent quite a few years on the island of Martinique where she, her mother Peruammal,her father Permal, and sister Alice were indentured. Valiamma also known as Meme Veronique or Veronica married at a very early age to a young man by the name of Matrizan and adapted to the French society. They had a daughter together Anise. Problems arose between Valiamma and Matrizan's family, and Valiamma left Martinique with her daughter Anise who was 3 at the time, her mother Peruammal, and sister Alice around 1888 to arrive in Trinidad, where she worked with the De Boissiere family who owned the Champs Elysee Estate in Maraval Trinidad. Tamil being her mother tongue she spoke French creole and English Fluently. Valiamma mastered in French culinary and was taught by her mother the art of massage. Her abilities were so high in demand Valiamma built a great relationship with her clients and hosted parties and massage sessions.

Shortly after her arrival to Trinidad Valiamma was around twenty when she was approached by a young Tamil east Indian immigrant who settled in Trinidad by the name of Narain The two made an excellent match and Peruammal Valiamma's mother had arranged for them to marry and settle at her home on cotton hill. Narain had adopted Anise Valiamma's daughter from her first marriage and they together had several children of whom seven survived. In order was: Julia, Victorine Known as Coopai or Sonny Ma, Mayotte, Edmund Known as Big Mammay, Emelda Known as Chuparee or Chennai Pati, John Known as Chinna Dada or Chinna Thamby, and Marie Louise. They all had Western and French names due to Valiamma being Roman Catholic. Alice Valiama's younger sister met a young man by the name of Gosine and settled in Todd's Road Rio Claro. Around 1900 Anise was a 15 years of age, she married a young man just 18 by the name of Tamby Pillai. Tamby's father Shiva Subromaniam Pillai who had emigrated to Trinidad from the city of Coimbatore in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on the John Allen Ship in 1873. They had eight children in order, Pulleh, Babe, Armogam known as, Christo, Rita known as, Lucile, Elsie, and Sylvan born 1925.