Contributed by Fiona Brandt (née Khondoker)
It is an honour for Fiona to share a little of her heritage
and the culturally rich lives of her parents who were both
immigrants in the UK. Theirs was a happy story, a rags to
riches story, and above all else, a great love story. They
had crossed countries and cultures to find each other.
Her dad adored her mum, and she would never find a
more loving husband. They were side by side always,
barely a cross word between them, soul mates in every
sense. Mazid had struck gold and Maggie had, too. He
was so proud of his Irish, beautiful, glamorous wife.
Fiona’s mother, Maggie (Margaret Philomena), was born in
1945 (d. 2020) to Joseph Fitzpatrick and Rose Anne Riley
in Pottle West, near Cootehill in County Cavan, Ireland.
She was the youngest of seven. She often said that her
childhood was filled with hardship and poverty, though
she was blessed with her mother, Fiona’s beautiful Granny,
Rose Anne, and had great love for her siblings too – Mary,
Patrick, Mick, Theresa, John and Hugh. In 1959, aged just
fourteen, Maggie left home for Dublin. At twenty-one, she
boarded a boat bound for Holyhead, England, staying
first in Torbay and Norfolk before moving to London.
Fiona’s father, Mazid Abdul Khondoker, was born in 1940
(d. 2024) in a small village in Kushtia, Bangladesh. As a
child, he was known affectionately as Montu. He was the
middle child of seven. His father was a stationmaster and
his mother a homemaker. Though they were relatively
middle class in what was then British India, there were
none of the luxuries of today. Mazid excelled at cycling
and won many medals. He had dreams of competing for
his country, but his dream ended when his bike was stolen
and couldn’t be replaced. After graduating, he worked at
a jute mill in Khulna. In the mid 1960s, he boarded a plane
from Dhaka to Heathrow and started a new life in London.
Fiona’s parents met working in a Leicester Square
restaurant. After five years together, they married on a
cold November day in 1972. They were both from strong
religious backgrounds: Mazid, a Muslim and Maggie, a
Catholic. They worried about what their families would
say back at home as their situation was unprecedented.
Fortunately, their families were liberal and accepting.
‘Marry him if he is a good man,’ Fiona’s Granny told her
mum. ‘As long as you love her,’ Fiona’s other Granny told
her dad. It took courage for them to make a go of things
in the era of ‘No Irish, No coloured, No dogs allowed’.
Fiona’s eldest brother Anthony arrived in 1974, then Oliver
in 1975, and Fiona in 1977. Maggie and Mazid had the idea
that they would open their own restaurant - between
them they had 30 years of experience in the catering and
hospitality industry. They didn’t really have the money,
they had to remortgage and borrow but they would give
it a go - the year was 1983, and Maggie’s Café was born!
The first years were certainly difficult for them but slowly
they were building the business they always wanted.
There was always a place at their table and a home
cooked, hearty meal at an affordable price. They turned
a blind eye to tabs they knew would never be paid, they
would give jobs to those with no chance of employment
elsewhere and they lent money to friends in difficulty.
Maggie, especially, wanted to service the community in
the only way she knew how: with a warm heart, a kind word
and a cup of tea. Upon her death, Fiona and her brothers
were greatly consoled by the outpouring of love for their
mother. Tributes were shared online calling her an ‘icon’
and ‘one in a million’ and ‘The Queen of Lewisham’.
Fiona’s parents infused east with west and made their
children’s cultural experience unique. They had Daniel
O’Donnell in the café but Bollywood in the house.
‘Bismillah’ and ‘In The Name of the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit’ - an easy acceptance of each other’s faith
and no need to conform to one another’s. Fiona wants
to hold onto the rich jewels of her heritage and not let
them trickle away. She is a yoga teacher and a people and
culture manager living in London with her husband and
two daughters. Her brothers run the café. The great love
and legacy of Maggie and Mazid lives on through them.