Judges of the Orphans / Juízes dos Órfãos

There was a judge of the orphans in Funchal, another in Calheta, and a third in S. Vicente, who 'had jurisdiction in all civil cases in which the orphans were plaintiffs or defendants, until their emancipation.' Already in the time of D. Manuel, there was a judge of the orphans in Madeira, and it was Fernão de Perada, appointed in 1493, who first held this position on the island.

In 1835, the duties that previously belonged to the judges of the orphans were transferred to the justices of the peace. In Funchal, a commission was appointed to inventory the notaries of the orphans, which were then handed over to the outside court, by virtue of an order from the President of the Province.

The inventories of the orphans, after being in the archives of the Chamber, were transferred to the archives of the justices of the peace, and it is the delegates of the Public Prosecutors who currently have the duties that belonged to the former judges.