The Macaulay connection

Casa do Fernandez overlooked Tinubu Square, which is until today a lively economic hub on Lagos Island. Because of its central location the ground floor shops that were for rent were quite popular. So attractive even that they caught the eye of one of the founders of Nigerian nationalism: Herbert Macaulay. In the 1910's this Lagosian was one of the tenants. As adverts show in the Daily News, a Macaulay owned newspaper, he ran a restaurant from there.

To Macaulay, the attraction might have been connected to more than its central location. Macaulay, among many things also an architect, might also have been charmed by the neo-classical style of Casa do Fernandez. In his personal archive that is now a special collection in the library of the University of Ibadan there is a well thumbed book on architecture of the Renaissance. That archive also contains several receipts that Macaulay wrote out at regular intervals from 1907 to 1913. First they were made out to Fernandez & Co, but the last one is in the name of Couto. That was when Fernandez left for Spain. Macaulay then probably knew the two Spaniards personally. It is likely that he was more familiar with Couto, who is said to have integrated in Lagos society quite well. Another piece of evidence that connects Macaulay to the iconic building is a payment reminder from 1913 addressed to him on Tinubu Square, and not to his office on Balbinna Street. A Lagos timber supplier urges him to pay his bill for timber that was delivered more than a year earlier. He even threatened legal action if he did not pay up within a week. The records don't show if the bill in the end was paid. Judging the amount of reminders in his archive, Macaulay had a tendency to be long overdue on his payments.

Who knows Macaulay used the delivered timber to upgrade the interior of his restaurant. Maybe the large wooden dining table that remained in the building until its demolition was built with this wood. The last users of the house state that this antique piece of furniture was still around in 2016, but nobody seems to know where it is today. It is tempting to think of the people who set at that table over the years. From the Alakija's – returnees from Brazil who changed their name from Assumpção – to the African Superintendent of Police Pratt – his father-in-law. Macaulay, a true Lagos socialite, might have hosted all the local elite in his restaurant.

This connects Casa do Fernandez to the bigger story of Nigeria. As one of Nigeria's founding fathers, Macaulay most have hosted many like minded Nigerians. Just imagine the political discussions of the awakening Nigerian nationalism that might have taken place under its roof.