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Born on September 1, 1926, in a very significant community in Trinidad to humble mother Lucy and multifaceted father Isaac Giddings, Margaret Monica Esdelle (née Giddings) was one of the prettiest babies born in Woodford Lodge, Chaguanas. She is passionately called Mammy Esdelle by her children.
Mammy Esdelle was the eldest sibling of nine. Her full siblings are Agnes, Melba, Vera, Brandford and Ann-Regina (Mary), and her half-siblings by her father are Maureen Giddings-Estwick, Benita Toussaint, Marina Amoroso, Joseph (Roland), Isaac and Agostini. Some siblings are deceased, with the latest, Melba, passing on July 21, 2026.
Her native community is one of Trinidad’s historic and tourism sites. It houses the famed location now called Renaissance Park within Perseverance Village, where the last train to San Fernando stopped on Railway Road to either disembark or pick up passengers and collect cane. The cane-weighing house still exists nearby.
Not only is she proud of having seen her siblings thrive as a doctor, teacher, seamstress, restaurateur, among other careers, and of her native community being historic, but she is also especially proud of her brother Brandford’s accomplishment. As a chemist and educator, Dr Brandford Giddings Sr was part of the team in Nashville, Tennessee, that created the unbreakable plastic bottles, which came from petroleum. This was confirmed by his proud cousin, Candace Giddings Koney-Laryea PhD.
Mammy Esdelle attended Chaguanas Government School and Tranquillity Girls’ Primary School before migrating to America at age ten, upon which she attended St Thomas High School and a commercial school.
“Don’t let my little slowness fool you,” said a feisty Mammy Esdelle to Guardian Media. “I was a great track and field athlete for school sports, did well in cooking school and graduated with ‘honours’ as the family baker,” she jokingly shared.
As the wife of Gerard Esdelle from November 6, 1955, she bore five children: Joseph, Maxine, Marissa and Bert, (Curtis deceased), and adopted a daughter, Laurencia Baird. Before choosing to become a home manager, she was an efficient secretary in the banking industry.
Maxine Esdelle harkened back.
“Mammy Esdelle was a beautiful person; strict at times; happy and jovial until dad came home late then she got a bit angry; allowed the freedom to go to school activities; taught my brothers to look out for the younger ones; was a good seamstress; made my sister and my dresses when as a preteen; played skip with us; helped with kite-making; read us story books; encouraged us to behave well; combed our hair every morning while revising Spelling phonetically to ensure we remembered the words for test; ensured me and my siblings listened to her by wringing our ear.”
Mammy Esdelle’s culinary skills also got exceptional reviews, from sumptuous Sunday and mid-week meals to outstanding coconut drops, sweet bread, ginger beer, sorrel and fruit cakes.
Despite still enjoying some independence, she currently enjoys her favourite meal of cassava, green banana/figs and fish, courtesy of her adopted daughter, and getting to her doctor via her son Joseph.
She loves going to different restaurants; spending time with family; talking to her sister on the phone daily or with any one of her children; watching CNN, watering her plants daily, and reading her magazine subscriptions and Unity Daily Word.
The aunt of one of T&T’s distinguished jazz musicians and entertainers, Chantal Esdelle, committedly listens to music from the 60s and 70s, but adding value to her life’s journey and upkeeping her children’s health is her belief in green foods, natural medicines and her home-made remedies.
Just as she appointed herself honorary family baker, she also became the family doctor.
Daily: Scott’s emulsion. Sore throat: Vicks Vapour Rub and Tiger balm at the sole of the feet. Headache: Cold saps, ice, or Limacol. Fever: Soft candle and black pepper mixed, then you would be privileged to wear one of her nightgowns to sweat it out.
At times, too, Scotch on the rocks came off her shelf.
For high blood pressure, she normalises it by drinking home-made christophene water/tea or eating roasted garlic.
Mammy Esdelle loves to dress up and give a light smile. Her yearly visits to Trinidad have somewhat lessened, and her last Panorama was in 2022. She was a fan of then-Solo Harmonites Steel Orchestra, and is looking forward to being in Trinidad for her birthday.
She said she’s sure God would grant her 100 years, and she’s excited.
Esdelle is currently chiefly coordinating a 100th birthday event for Mammy Esdelle for September 5, where “the Esdelle and Giddings families would celebrate in fine style.”
Also excited is one of Mammy Esdelle’s nieces, Carol Falby: “Aunty Margaret is a real Caribbean woman: Montserrat grandmother, Barbados grandfather and Guyanese father. She’s a true Trini to de bone, hence the significant celebration in Trinidad.”
Mammy Esdelle also has nine great-grandchildren and seven step-great-grandchildren.
