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Archival family tree · South African Tamil roots

Govuithan

Porsewakam, Madras

Father
Ganganna
Porsewakam, Madras
Indentured ancestor
Govuithan
male · Porsewakam, Madras
The crossing
Origin
Porsewakam
Madras
Ship
UMVOTI IV
no. 16894
Year
1878
Arrived
Natal, South Africa
The origin village

Govuithan’s family came from Porsewakam, Madras district. Living relatives may still be there — a voter-roll lookup can name them, and the modern village page shows land records and families we already track.

Verify with your elders

Colonial ship-clerks often mangled Tamil names. Before treating this as your ancestor, ask the oldest person in your family:

  • Was there a great-great-grandfather named Govuithan or Ganganna?
  • Did family ever mention coming from Porsewakam, Madras?
  • Do the dates line up with when your family arrived in Natal? (Record: 1878)
  • Any family memory of a ship named UMVOTI IV, or a passage to Natal around then?
Ask elders on WhatsApp
Is this your ancestor?

Claim this record to start your family tree — Govuithan and Ganganna are added instantly, ready for you to extend with living relatives.

This is my family — build my tree

Two paths: build your tree if this is your ancestor, or submit evidence to help a South African family verify their village link. See the Village Verification Project.

More families from Porsewakam

Source: theiii.in Natal indenture register (digitised ship record). Names and places are the colonial spellings as recorded; verify against family memory before treating a lineage as certain.

Privacy — no living person’s details are ever shown in public

Govuithan appears here only because this is a historical indenture record (1860–1911) — the person named sailed over a century ago. Family trees, voter matches and any living-relative data sit behind a login and are visible only to the account owner they belong to.