Carvalhal (1st Count of) 1Family, entailed estates and wealth
Carvalhal (1st Count of)
Original title: Carvalhal (1º. Conde de)
Biography of João José Xavier de Carvalhal Esmeraldo (1778–1837), 1st Count of Carvalhal, the richest landowner in Madeira, a liberal émigré in London and briefly civil governor of the archipelago in 1835.
1Family, entailed estates and wealth
João José Xavier de Carvalhal Esmeraldo Vasconcelos de Atouguia Bettencourt Sá Machado, 1st Count of Carvalhal (‘oak grove’), was born in this city on 7 March 1778, the son of João do Carvalhal Esmeraldo Albuquerque e Câmara and Dona Isabel Maria de Sá Acciaioly. He was a fidalgo-knight of the Royal Household (fidalgo cavaleiro da Casa Real), colonel of the militia regiment of Calheta (‘small cove’) and administrator of several entailed estates (morgadios), the most notable of which were those of Santo Espírito in the Lombada dos Esmeraldos, Ponta Delgada, Água de Mel and Paul do Mar.
He succeeded to the great house of his brother Luís Vicente do Carvalhal Esmeraldo de Sá Machado, who, according to a distinguished genealogist, ‘was lord of more than twelve large entailed estates, which made him the richest subject in Portugal in patrimonial property. The Count of Carvalhal was not only the wealthiest proprietor in Madeira; his house was also one of the foremost in the country, having brought together many entails and entailed estates. He owned vast properties in almost every parish of this island, as well as in mainland Portugal and in the Azores, and on his death he left, besides, a thousand and some contos de réis (conto: one million réis) in various English credit institutions. A curious official document, sent by the corregedor (royal district magistrate) of this judicial district (comarca) to the government in Lisbon in 1823, states that the Count of Carvalhal has very great capital in the bank of London and in cash, and an enormous annual income which, even in the island’s present penury, amounts to two to three hundred thousand cruzados; for the period this represented a truly colossal income for this archipelago.
Although he lived without pomp or ostentation, he was nonetheless a man of generous and liberal spirit. He gave ample proof of this above all during some of the crises Madeira went through, proving a true providence for this land: with the force of his prestige, his influence and his great fortune, he did much to overcome those crises. At times he stood up to the boundless greed of the wine merchants, chiefly foreigners, who colluded to drive down the price of must, to the great loss of the poor farmers.
2Exile, governorship and death
A supporter of liberal ideas, he was forced to emigrate to England aboard the British warship, the corvette Alligator, on 22 August 1828, when Madeira was occupied by Miguelist troops. In London he was not only the devoted protector of the Madeirans who had emigrated there, but also gave generous help to all his compatriots who turned to him, and it is said that he spent many tens of contos de réis (conto: one million réis) in doing so.
Once constitutional government had been established, he returned to this island at the end of 1834, and by royal letter (carta régia) of 13 September 1835 he was appointed civil governor of this archipelago, having shortly before, on the 5th of the same month and year, been granted the title of Count of Carvalhal da Lombada. The cares of administering his great household and, still more, the illnesses from which he had long suffered took him away within a few months from the government of the district, a post he had accepted very reluctantly and solely to accede to the wishes of the leading landowners and men of influence on this island.
He died on 11 November 1837 at his Quinta do Palheiro do Ferreiro (‘blacksmith’s hayloft estate’) and was buried in the chapel that still stands there today. Some forty years later, his nephew and heir, the 2nd Count of Carvalhal, had his mortal remains transferred to the mausoleum he had built in the Angústias cemetery, where they lie buried.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 06-
João do Carvalhal Esmeraldo Albuquerque e Câmara, 1st Count of Carvalhal, was born in Funchal.
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The corregedor reported to Lisbon on the immense fortune and income of the Count of Carvalhal.
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After capitulating, Governor Travassos Valdez took refuge with his family aboard HMS Alligator, as did the Conde de Carvalhal.
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At the end of 1834 the first Count of Carvalhal returned from exile to Madeira and ordered major repairs to the theatre.
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João José Xavier de Carvalhal was created Count of Carvalhal.
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The Count of Carvalhal was appointed civil governor of Madeira by royal letter.
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The 1st Count of Carvalhal died at the Quinta do Palheiro.
Place
Places mentioned · 10
Abroad
- Água de Mel
Funchal. Site of one of his entailed estates.
An area in Funchal shared by two parishes, seat of an entail founded by Maria de Bettencourt and later held by the Counts of Carvalhal. The governor was ambushed there in 1668, near the Bettencourt manor.
- Angústias Cemetery
Funchal. Cemetery where his remains were moved to a mausoleum.
Funchal municipal cemetery, which grew from a small Misericórdia burial ground of 1818 and was built in 1836–38. It has a carved basalt portico, a mortuary and a 1917 monument to the victims of the German bombardment. The 2nd Count of Carvalhal and Dean Andrade are among those buried there.
- Azores
Portugal. He also owned property in the Azores.
The Azores, an Atlantic archipelago that shares plant species with Madeira. The Elucidário records settlement there by Madeiran families such as the Bettencourts, the 1801 ban on Azorean wines in Madeira, and imports of Azorean tobacco. It also notes that Azorean farmers were brought to Madeira to teach maize-growing methods.
- Calheta
He was colonel of the Calheta militia regiment.
Calheta is a town, parish and municipality on Madeira's south-west coast and one of the island's oldest settlements. The Elucidário covers its name, early settlers such as Pedro Berenguer, its church and many chapels, including one of a former Franciscan convent, and the 1834 riot.
- England
United Kingdom. Country of his liberal exile.
England appears in the Elucidário as the first main market for Madeira embroidery and the main importer of Madeiran wicker. It was also the source of most butter consumed in Funchal in the early nineteenth century. It was a chief refuge for liberal emigrants fleeing Miguelist persecution, and several Madeirans studied or served as diplomats there.
- Lombada dos Esmeraldos
Ponta do Sol. Site of the Santo Espírito entailed estate he administered.
Great sugar estate in Ponta do Sol parish, also called the Lombada da Ponta do Sol, acquired by João Esmeraldo from Rui Gonçalves da Câmara (dated 1473 or 1498 in different entries) and later named after his family. Esmeraldo founded an entail there in 1512, and the estate was later divided into two entailed estates, Espírito Santo and Vale da Bica, after lawsuits over its division. It has the Espírito Santo chapel, a ruined Santo Amaro chapel and a ruined manor house, and was transferred from Funchal to Ponta do Sol municipality in 1835.
- London
United Kingdom. He held great funds in London banks and lived there in exile from 1828.
The British capital, the place of publication of many English works on Madeira, including those of the du Canes, Embleton and Bloxam. Mason compared its humidity with Funchal's, and artillery for the Fortress of São Tiago came from there. It hosted the 1909 applied chemistry congress.
- Paul do Mar
Calheta. Site of one of his entailed estates.
Paul do Mar is a parish on Madeira's south-west coast, created in 1676 from Estreito da Calheta. It is a fishing port watered by the old Rabaçal levada, where malvasia is grown and trachoma was reported to be very frequent. It had the Santo António fortress, a band, and salt works from about 1865 that were later abandoned for lack of profit.
- Ponta Delgada
São Vicente. Site of one of his entailed estates.
Ponta Delgada is a parish on Madeira's north coast, one of the three parishes of the concelho of São Vicente, with a headland and a small fishing harbour. Its feast of Senhor Jesus is a great pilgrimage of vows, and it was the seat of a capitania-mor. It recorded 409 cholera deaths in 1856.
- Quinta do Palheiro
Funchal. His estate where he died and was first buried in the chapel.
Estate of the Carvalhal family in São Gonçalo, Funchal. The 1st Count of Carvalhal died there and was first buried in its chapel, and the 2nd Count held famous parties there and received D. Luís. Archduchess Leopoldina dined there on 12 September 1817, King Carlos played tennis there in 1901, and gorse was first introduced there.
People
People mentioned · 05-
1st Count of Carvalhal, Madeira's wealthiest landowner and civil governor in 1835, subject of this entry.
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Nephew and heir of the 1st Count, who moved his remains to a mausoleum in the Angústias cemetery.
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Mother of the 1st Count of Carvalhal.
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Father of the 1st Count of Carvalhal.
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Brother of the 1st Count, from whom he inherited over twelve great entailed estates.