Gill Family

Banga Family

A legacy shared by three men is seen from the perspective of each generation: Indar Singh Gill, his son Nachhatter “Nash” and his grandson, Rajnesh “Rick”.

Indar Singh Gill was sponsored to Canada by his uncle in 1930.  He contributed to the local economy through a number of businesses, was a strong advocate of Sikh religion, of political rights for Sikhs in Canada and of Indian independence.  Prior to 1947 he, and others, financially supported Dr. D.P. Pandia and sent him on many delegations to Ottawa.  Through these efforts, Indian immigrants obtained the right to vote, own land, and hold Canadian citizenship.  Indar Singh Gill became a Canadian citizen in 1947.  When the United Nations was forming after WWII, a few Sikh men in Vancouver, including Naginder Singh Gill, Surain Singh Mohim, Harnam Singh Dalla, Ganga Sing Gill, Inder Singh, Sardara Singh Gill and Indar Singh Gill raised $4000 to send Vijaya Laxmi Pandit (sister of Jawaharlal Nehru) to the UN conference to speak regarding the freedom of India as the representatives sent by India all represented the status quo of British Rule.  In Indar Singh Gill’s own words, “I regard Canada as my home and my country.  I regard India as the place of my birth and my ancestral roots.” 

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Mr. Nand Singh Banga, Mrs. Dhan Kaur, and their sons, Agit Banga and Bim Banga and their daughters Bhagwan Kaur and Isher Kaur. (P11925, 1940)

Nand Singh Banga arrived in Canada on his fourteenth birthday, August 8, 1920.  His father, Thakur Singh Banga, had first arrived in 1906.  They were employed at the Abbotsford Lumber Company on Mill Lake, where Nand Singh worked in the dry kilns.  He had been hired on the reference of Harry Singh and Sunder Singh, two pioneers in the Abbotsford region.

Thakur Singh Banga had been involved in the construction of the old gurdwara in 1911.  Nand Singh recalls, from stories told to him by his father, that men would carry lumber on their backs to the site of the old temple for the construction of the gurdwara.

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Nand Singh Banga at Mission Flats.  Photograph most likely taken between the years of 1954 and 1957; Nand Singh would be in his mid 40’s and a dairy farmer.

(L-R) Nand Singh Banga and Preetam Singh Banga on Mission Flats.  The men are two of four brothers: The eldest is Munsha Singh, (who never came to Canada), next, Nand Singh, Preetam Singh and Hardit Singh, the youngest.