Ribeiro (Councillor José Silvestre)

Over a span of more than a century, Councillor (conselheiro, honorary title of the royal council) José Silvestre Ribeiro was the most illustrious civil governor of this district, and the one to whom this land owes the greatest sum of outstanding services and acts of the highest and purest benevolence. This is an almost axiomatic truth, which needs no demonstration.

He was born in Idanha-a-Nova on 31 December 1807. Having completed his degree in law, he enlisted in the liberating army, and, once the war was over, he became in turn secretary-general, civil governor, deputy, peer of the realm, minister and councillor of state, and carried out many important public service commissions. He was a man of rare intellectual culture and one of the most prolific and erudite writers of his time, leaving a vast literary output.

António José de Ávila, later Duke of Ávila e Bolama, arrived in Madeira on 12 September 1846 as royal commissioner, accompanied by José Silvestre Ribeiro, in order to investigate the events that had taken place on this island because of the Calvinist proselytism of Dr Roberto Kalley. Silvestre Ribeiro came as the appointed civil governor of the district, but his appointment only became known after António José de Ávila had dismissed the governor and the municipal administrator (administrador do concelho, the government's representative) of Funchal and taken other administrative measures that were judged indispensable.

We cannot list, even in summary, the services by which José Silvestre Ribeiro marked his time among us. Yet it is impossible not to mention, however briefly, the founding of the Asylum; the swift and salutary measures taken to overcome the terrible famine crisis of 1847; the creation of the Agricultural Society; the building of the Ponte Monumental (‘monumental bridge’); the introduction of public lighting; the exhibition of Madeiran industries; the organisation of a natural history museum; and the creation of many primary schools. Nor can we pass over his very important measures for the replanting and preservation of woodland; the major repairs to the roads and to almost all the buildings of the State, including most of the churches; and the effective and strict measures he adopted concerning the management of charitable institutions, municipal taxes, cemeteries, foundlings, council revenues, etc. We must also mention the way he defended the interests of Madeira in parliament, the great expansion of public works, the remarkable impetus given to the cutting of levadas (irrigation channel), especially that of Rabaçal, and the building of shelters in the mountains and on the ridges. There was no public need he did not seek to meet, nor any area of administration that his effective initiative and tireless energy did not reach. We would go far, very far, if we wished to descend into details and particulars, which do not fit within the narrow limits of this article, which cannot be long.

Silvestre Ribeiro represented Madeira in parliament in the legislative sessions of 1848 to 1851, 1853 to 1856 and 1857 to 1858.

The Madeirans, grateful for the most outstanding and never sufficiently praised services that José Silvestre Ribeiro had rendered to this archipelago, resolved to present him with an object that would not let him entirely forget the gratitude of its inhabitants and would at the same time remind him of his stay among us. This object, acquired by public subscription, was a rich gold collar, made up chiefly of seventeen small shields, each of which represented one of the most notable acts of his administration. From it hung a medal which, besides the dedication, bore the Latin legend taken from the verses of Virgil: Semper honos, nomenque tuum, laudesque manebunt (Your honour, your name and your praises shall endure for ever). The designs and moulds for this exquisite work were by the distinguished Madeiran artist Vicente Gomes da Silva, who died a few years ago (1921). On the occasion of the solemn presentation of this meaningful gift, the merchants of the British colony presented Silvestre Ribeiro with a silver salver, specially made in London, engraved with a dedication in English.

As is well known, José Silvestre Ribeiro was civil governor of the district of Angra do Heroísmo, and during his administration a violent earthquake reduced the town (vila) of Praia da Vitória to a heap of rubble. What Silvestre Ribeiro then achieved, raising a new settlement from the ruins in a short time, is eloquently attested by the monument that stands today in the centre of the town, an undying commemorative pillar (padrão) of his glory.

The Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal) of Angra presented Silvestre Ribeiro with a rich small sword with a gold hilt, a true artistic treasure. The benefactor governor bequeathed this sword to the Municipal Council of Funchal, where it remains, and the collar given by the Madeirans to the Municipal Council of Angra do Heroísmo, where it too is carefully kept.

On 31 December 1907 the island of Terceira marked the centenary of Silvestre Ribeiro’s birth with solemn and meaningful displays of esteem and gratitude towards his cherished and illustrious memory, among which several literary publications stood out. In articles in the former Heraldo da Madeira (‘Madeira Herald’), the present author put forward the idea of associating Madeira with those celebrations, but no one, from the civil governor down to the most remote Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal), answered the call…

The name of José Silvestre Ribeiro is still well remembered here and is regarded, beyond any possible dispute, as that of the most illustrious and beneficent governor the Madeira archipelago has ever had. In Funchal, the blessed memory of José Silvestre Ribeiro has been perpetuated only by giving his name to one of the city’s thoroughfares, better known by the shortened form Rua do Conselheiro (‘Councillor’s street’); even the general public does not know that it represents a tribute to this governor. One thing could still be done, and the press has already suggested it: to give the Asilo da Mendicidade (poorhouse) the name of its founder. Anyone wishing to gain a fuller knowledge of his administration in this district should read Uma Época Administrativa na Madeira e Porto Santo, 3 thick volumes; Colecção de Documentos relativos à crise da fome por que passaram as ilhas da Madeira e Porto Santo no ano de 1847; Colecção de Documentos relativos ao Asilo da Mendicidade do Funchal; Colecção de Documentos relativos á construção da Ponte do Ribeiro Seco; and Brevíssima resenha de alguns serviços que no distrito do Funchal tem prestado o conselheiro José Silvestre Ribeiro.

A most painful detail, but one worth recording: while in this land José Silvestre Ribeiro went through one of the most anguished ordeals of his life, losing his only son, who met a tragic death in the tank (irrigation reservoir) in the garden of the São Lourenço Palace (‘St Lawrence’).

Silvestre Ribeiro left Madeira on 27 November 1852 and died in Lisbon on 9 March 1891.