Hi Mike, Pico is not going to be different than any other of the Azores islands.
Illiteracy was high for both children and adults. I want to say this did not change until the 1900s. Children did tasks for their age and size. Some milked cows. Some pulled weeds. Others may have churned butter. A child would be sent away most likely for a better opportunity or a better life. Most of Pico would have emigrated from the port of Horta. Those records start in 1836: https://tombo.pt/en/d/acores You might want to see if your local public library has a copy of "Atlantic Islanders of the Azores and Madeiras" by Francis M. Rogers. Part I is "The Lives of Azoreans and Madeirans" and Part II is "Their Values." It's written from a American perspective though. I read it 20 years ago so I can't tell you specifically what it was about. Maybe I should reread it. Cheri Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada On Fri, Mar 16, 2018 at 11:24 PM, Mickey Blue <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi All, can anyone direct me to book(s) or information, hopefully > translated into English, which describe social customs and life in general > on Pico in 1825/35 when my Great grandfather Manuel Jacinto was born and > left Pico? Were children of that era literate? Was school available to all? > What work was expected of children under 10 years of age? Why would a ten > year old leave home? Are there shipping records to Trinidad or Madeira (he > possibly went to Madeira first). > > These are all things I would dearly like to know. I am hoping to write an > historically accurate fiction based on what I know about this remarkable > man. I know his parents lived and died on Pico. Though he was the oldest > child he was charged with stealing a Frenchman's watch in Trinidad in > December 1836, he had just turned 11. I am guessing he was there because > slavery was abolished and in 1834 the plantation owners on Trinidad > (probably mostly French) were looking for cheap labour to replace their > slaves. The British had taken possession of Trinidad by then and Manuel > was tried and sentenced under British law. He spent the next two years on a > prison Hulk on the Thames in London before being "Transported" to Van > Diemen's Land, now Tasmania Australia, to finish his seven years sentence > (sentences were generally, hanging, 7 years or life transportation at that > time). > > If anyone has connections with Trinidad I would be interested if any court > records from that era survived and how to access them (I have written to > officials in Trinidad but have not received a reply). > > I would be happy to have any information that would help me understand > life at that time. Thank you in anticipation. > > Mike Emmett > > -- > 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 https://groups.google.com/group/azores. > -- 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 https://groups.google.com/group/azores.
