Nafees Chohan

Nafees Akhtar

Middlesbrough

1949–2010

Nafees Akhtar was born in Namolia Village District, Hoshiarpur, Punjab on 11 June 1931. In October 1947 she married Ghulam Sarwar Khan Chohan, who had lived in the UK since 1937 and was an employee of the bridge manufacturer Dorman Long in Middlesbrough. On 27 October 1949, after a three-week journey, she arrived by ship at Liverpool docks with a distant relative and was met by her husband. She moved to Middlesbrough, where Ghulam Sarwar Khan Chohan's paternal cousin Chirag Din Chohan had lived since 1937. In turn, Chohan became the first known Punjabi Pakistani and Muslim woman to settle permanently in Middlesbrough.

After a short period in their first property on Kensington Road, the couple moved into a home on 185 Grange Road. In 1953 the family opened their home to Polish lodgers, including Dorothy who taught Nafees how to speak English and how to sew. They also hosted Hungarian lodgers, a mother and son named Margaret and George. During this period, she had four children. Her sons Bari, Araf and Hamed were born in 1950, 1952 and 1963 respectively, whilst her daughter Shahadha was born in 1951. Chohan's children grew up with the children of their lodgers.

After learning how to sew, Chohan worked as an overlock machinist in the local textiles factory Meridian, which produced men's clothing. In the late 1960s she worked for the John Collier factory in Billingham, where she manufactured men’s clothing, as well as the KP Crisps factory, also in Billingham.

Chohan's ability to speak English enabled her to support other Pakistani women who settled in Middlesbrough, particularly following the enactment of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1962, when South Asian migration to Britain proliferated. Her voluntary labour included taking women to doctor's appointments and translation services. In turn, she was known as 'Ma ji' (mother) by locals.

Chohan’s status, as among the first Pakistani women to settle in Middlesbrough, has been recognized in various ways. On 16 August 1997 Middlesbrough’s Evening Gazette published a full-page interview and cover of Chohan, written by Terry Gilder as part of the newspaper’s ‘Remember When’ series. The writer used the English translation of Nafees’s name, Grace, throughout the article and focused on her relationships with other Pakistani women and her white neighbours, who helped her navigate a difficult settlement in Middlesbrough. Chohan was also recognized as part of Dorman Museum’s Hi! Street Festival in July 2023, which focused on celebrating significant women from Middlesbrough. Her shawl is part of the museum’s collections.

Nafees Chohan died on 14 June 2010.