The Relic is pretty funny! MaryAnn
On Sat, Aug 9, 2014 at 12:52 PM, nancy jean baptiste < [email protected]> wrote: > Thanks MaryAnn and Diane! I'm looking forward to reading his works. > > Nancy Jean > > ------------------------------ > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: [AZORES-Genealogy] Naming of Expostos > Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2014 09:11:17 -0700 > > You might also try searching at http://books.google.com. They have links > to sellers and a link to Worldcat to search for the books in libraries that > might be near you. Google also tells you if eBooks are available. Some > books have previews available. > > > > I suggest searching by the author’s name in this format "José Maria Eça de > Queirós" (with the quotes). I seemed to get more results that way even for > individual books. The results will include both English and Portuguese > versions. > > > > Diane George > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *MaryAnn Santos > *Sent:* Saturday, August 09, 2014 7:02 AM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] Naming of Expostos > > > > Yes, there are in English translations. Amazon has copies of *The Sin of > Father Amaro* ranging in price from $6.50 to $2,423.64!! I think that > must be a typo. > > > > An english translation of *The Maias *by Queiroz came out a few years ago > and is another excellent read. I thoroughly enjoyed *The Relic, *too. I > read it first in English and then in Portuguese. Although I think it's out > of print now. Since I live in NYC I buy a lot of used books at Strand. > They have great deals on hardcover new and used books (and paperbacks) and > you can buy them online. Here's the link. > > > > http://www.strandbooks.com/ > > > > MaryAnn > > > > > > > > On Sat, Aug 9, 2014 at 9:37 AM, nancy jean baptiste < > [email protected]> wrote: > > MaryAnn, > > Are these books available in English? Do you know how many he has written? > > Thank you, > Nancy > > ------------------------------ > > From: [email protected] > Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2014 14:07:21 -0400 > Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] Naming of Expostos > To: [email protected] > > Thank you, John. I had forgotten about Father Amara and as an aside, *The > Sins of Father Amaro* is an excellent read - as are all of the Queiroz > books I've read. > > > > MaryAnn > > > > > > On Fri, Aug 8, 2014 at 1:16 PM, 'John Raposo' via Azores Genealogy < > [email protected]> wrote: > > In my researching experience, I have noted the following: > > > > When people from the villages went to the convents in Ponta Delgada and > Ribeira Grande to have foundling babies placed with them, there was not, > necessarily, a connection between the foster parent and the baby. > > > > As for the villages, if an unmarried (or widowed) woman was pregnant, I > think that in such small places where everybody knew everybody else, I > doubt that the pregnancy could go unnoticed. And, the parish priest, who > heard confessions at a time when people really worried about what would > happen if they died in a state of mortal sin, must have known what his > penitents were up to. I think that when a baby was left at somebody's door > in a small village, everybody knew, or thought they knew, who the mother > (and maybe the father) were. Sometimes these children might have been left > at the doors of relatives, but they would have required a nursemaid, i.e.a > woman with breast milk. > > > > As for names, again, there is no one answer. Babies who were placed with > and stayed with the same family to adulthood (as opposed to being shipped > out as servants from family to family) sometimes took the family name. > Sometimes an "*exposto*" took a name, e.g. Bettencourt, with no apparent > rime or reason. However, a closer look shows that the Bettencourts were a > prominent family in the village and perhaps it was an open secret that this > baby was the offspring of the squire's son (or daughter). > > > > Infant mortality for *expostos *was much higher than among non-*exposto > *babies. > The state paid a stipend for the first few months of life for babies placed > with nursing foster-mothers. When the subsidy stopped, the infant mortality > rate rose substantially. > > > > Eça de Queiroz touched on this subject in his novel *O Crime do Padre > Amaro; *one of the characters made her living by taking in > unwanted/illegitimate babies of the socially promminent and arranging for > their deaths. Eloise Cadinha, a member of the List, sent me her notes on > this subject, and with my thanks to Eloise, I am enclose them: > > > > > > Most of us as we research our ancestors will find an exposto or two. It > is indeed miraculous that they were able to survive to adulthood, to marry > and to have children. > > > > Expostos - a translation. A very sad situation. > > > The following is my poor translation of part of an article written by > Henrique Bras 1884-1984) in *Boletim de Instituto Histórico da ilha > Terceira*, 1947. > > > > "In the last three centuries there is a long list of *filhos da igreja* > (children of the church), also known at times as baptism records, of > unknown fathers and mothers in the parish registers of Terceira, who were > often baptized with the most noble or notable or the very rich people of > Terceira who stood as godparents. At a more recent time the number of > children secretly abandoned at the *rodas* (wheels) had greatly > increased, and in spite of the many recently born innocents who died when > abandoned, and of the few to whom the fear of discovery still did not keep > them from strangling babies before they saw the light of day. Providing > the support of these children who survived became on of the most difficult > problems for the various city > halls on the island, demanding a new special tax...which the people agreed > was needed but not without grumbling and finding fault with the new tax. > > > > On April 29, 1800, the Conde de Almada, Captitão General of the Azores, in > Angra, informed an official of the Royal Court that in the ten years the > cathedral registered annually an average of 97 *expostos* baptized and > also registered an average of 83 who had died! And this was only those > *engeitados* (abandoned ones) who had arrived at the cathedral to be > baptized, those that had been left in the *Casa da Roda*, and this record > was only for Angra. > > > > The city council continued without resources to provide for these children > and thought about creating a lottery for that purpose. > > > > It needs to be said: with a population of about 10 to 12 thousand people, > there were yearly on an average 97 recently born abandoned children of > unknown parents, legally registered and of which 83 of these died -- > naturally by affectionate handling, sheltered and well wrapped care. > > > > [My note: the author mentions Carlota, a weaver of Angels, from the > famous novel by Eça de Queiroz, . I asked a cousin if he knew of this > novel, *O Crime do Padre Amaro, *and he said that he had read it > long ago, and it was about a woman who got rid of unwanted infants. She > killed them by wrapping them up and drowning them in the river. She was > referred to as something like the "maker of angels." The idea being that > she was creating angels by killing them.] > > > > On the October 20, 1782, the vicar of the diocese of Angra, Dr. João > Vieira de Bettencourt, gave the rector of the cathedral, Pedro da Camara > Merens, the commission to organize a private book to register the baptisms > and deaths of these abandoned children. > > > > In the year of 1783 there were registered 120 baptisms and 81 deaths of > expostos: > > > In 1784, 94 baptisms, 73 deaths > In 1785, 97 baptisms, 86 deaths > In 1786, 94 baptisms, 105 deaths > In 1787, 86 baptisms, 100 deaths > In 1788, 100 baptisms > In 1789, 95 baptisms > > > There were no deaths recorded for the years 1788 and 1789 but were > continued the following year. One can see that in 10 years the births and > deaths of the foundlings was amazing. > > > > "Painful emotions squeeze the soul when one looks through the pages, tiny > tragedies sown through this private book of the cathedral. The records > indicate the names of the amas (wet-nurses) nominated by city hall for each > *exposto*. They were single women, 'loose' women, married women and > widows. > > > > In the *Casa da Roda*...in the city of Angra, there was the *rodeiro* > (the man in charge of the wheel) and he had at least one assistant, in > order to rescue quickly any of the new guests secretly left at the door in > the silence of the night. The newly born was left there, shivering in the > cold until the door providentially was opened. It was rare to announce a > visit to the *Roda*, for fear of the discovery of the mother which was of > great importance to the municipality, in order to avoid the expense of > providing a wet-nurse for the child -- and so that justice also > intervened. > > > > Sometimes a little one was carried there by a caring person saying he had > found the abandoned child in some hidden place. Thus on 16 September 1782, > Francisco da Silveira, gravedigger of Sao Pedro, Biscoitos, arrived at the > *Roda* with a bundle. It was a baby girl who had been placed at the door > of the home of the sexton of the church. She was soon baptized and given > the name Delfina. This man delivered this baby to the *Roda* knowing > that she would not cost the finder any money for finding the child. He > also presumed that she would be cared for, but this child died and her > death was not recorded in the church register. > > > > The *Casa da Roda* was next to the residence of the *pai dos* *engeitados* > (the father of the abandoned ones) who was a councilman in the senate of > the city hall, and who had the municipal duty to care for the *expostos*, > and also the place elected by the municipality for the receiving of these > abandoned ones. > > > > This councilman had a most distressful mission. The city did not have > money for the number of abandoned children growing larger each year, and > for the prompt payment for the wet-nurses, and for this and for other > reasons, the milk from these women was not sufficient to fulfill the need > for these babies. > > > > The *expostos* arrived at the Casa da *Roda* and there they waited two to > fifteen days for a wet-nurse. The priest noted the baptism of the children > in the register: baptized in the *Casa da Roda*, with the name of > Francisco, found very young and had not been given a wet-nurse and he > lasted a few days; Jose, baptized in the *Casa da Roda*, died without a > wet-nurse; Manuel after being > baptized died in the *Casa da Roda*. > > > > One particularly unhappy *exposto* to whom the godfather, Cosme de > Mascarenhas, the bell ringer of the cathedral (this man throughout the > years became godfather to nearly all the newly baptized *expostos*), gave > the name Abraão (Abraham), and none of the wet-nurses wished to care for > him the priest wrote in the record of baptism (20 March 1783, p19, book > number 1). The bell > ringer had discovered that the newly born child was Jewish and had given > him a suitable name. These wet-nurses ... they refused to nurse this > newborn heretic. Sixteen days passed, with Abraham suffering and in pain, > until he finally died. > > > > These death records note the approximate age of the child. These > unfortunate children said farewell to their miserable existence between > three days and three months. Few of the *expostos* reached the age of 1 > year and very few beyond one year. > > > > The author did not know if the position of the city official in charge of > the wet-nurses was lucrative -- but he did know that it was truly an > industry. The wet-nurses naturally came from the poorest sections of the > city and outlying areas, but it was the city that provided most of the > wet-nurses. At times it was not enough and the city had to go to the > peasants in villages such as Sao Bartolomeu and Santa Barbara. It was an > industry that had wet-nurses who could kill off these charges with hideous > rapidity. The wet-nurses received three *expostos* each year, one > following the other after the death of the one before. > > > > [The author listed three wet-nurses and the infants received. One of > them in 1785 had 5 expostos. Inacio, April 5; Marilia, May 17; > Violante, July 22; Antonio, Aug 20; Mateus, Sept 21.] > > > > This private book of the *expostos* from the cathedral made it easy to > study them. In previous times it was extremely difficult to learn about > them because there were no statistics. But whoever turns the first pages > of this register of the cathedral rarely turns two pages. > > > > There were many reasons why children were abandoned by their mothers and > fathers. Some of the reasons being: an illegitimate child, extreme poverty > and too many mouths to feed, perhaps the death of the father, or just > simply an unwanted child. > > > > One can research the smaller villages and not find a single exposto in the > baptism records.. At least this has been my experience. In the larger > towns and villages many expostos are found, certainly many abandoned from > the smaller villages. In years of famine more children were left as > foundlings. These abandoned children were left at churches, convents, and > at the doors of many homes. > > > > Many children were left at convents. In many of the convents through > Europe there was what was called the *Roda*, or the Wheel. It was a > wheel that could spin from the outside of the building to the inside. > Goods or other articles for the convent were left on the wheel, and usually > there was some kind of a bell to let the nuns know that something had been > left on the wheel. In time, desperate mothers and fathers left their > children on the wheel. > > > > In reading some of the *exposto* baptism records in certain villages, the > priest notes to which mother in the village the child was given. The child > had to have a nursing mother, and usually one can check back and find that > nursing mother in the record. And sometimes the priest noted where the > child had been found. > > > > When an exposto (male) married he had already a surname or perhaps was > given one at the time of the marriage. I wish I knew more about this. As > for surnames of the *exposto*, they run the gamut from Azevedo to > Xavier. As for the *exposta* (female) I don’t think she was ever given a > surname, or at least I can’t remember seeing one on her marriage record or > on the baptism records of her children. > > > > Many parents when abandoning their children believed it would only be for > a certain period of time. When the child was left at the convent or at > church or at the doorstep some clues were left so that the parents could > later claim their child. Notes sometimes were left with the name of the > child, or perhaps a certain type of clothing, or an embroidered blanket, > some colored ribbons. These were the clues and apparently the church did > keep a record of these possible identifiers. > > > > > > > > John Miranda Raposo > > > > On Friday, August 8, 2014 10:18 AM, Herb <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I'm sure this topic has been discussed here before, but I don't recall > seeing it. When an exposto was born and baptized and given to a family to > be raised, did he take on the adopting family's names, or did he use his > real parents names? Did the new parents always know who the real parents > were? These were small villages and everybody basically knew everybody's > business. It didn't take long for news to travel from one end of Mayberry > to the other, right? Herb > > -- > For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail > (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the > right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my > membership." > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Azores Genealogy" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores. > > > > > -- > For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail > (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. 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