Georgiana Naseeba

Stockton, Yorkshire

Georgiana Naseeba was the first recorded South Asian to settle in Middlesbrough and lived in the town from at least 1861. She was a domestic servant for the Macsorley family, headed by the Reverend Alexander Macsorley. Macsorley, along with his wife, Catherine, and their five children, lived in Burdwan (now known as Bardhaman), West Bengal. Two of their children were born in Madras whilst two others were born in Bengal. They subsequently had a child in Trinidad and another child when they settled in Middlesbrough. It may have been during their time in Burdwan that Naseeba was recruited. In the 1861 census, Naseeba is recorded as a resident of 28 Bridge Street West, Middlesbrough. It is unknown when the Macsorleys moved into this property. Five months after the census was conducted in April 1861, Naseeba died in Stockton in September 1861. She was 17 years old.