Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Gender and Well-Being Interactions between Work, Family and Public Policies
COST ACTION A 34
Second Symposium:
The Transmission of Well-Being: Marriage
Strategies and Inheritance Systems in Europe (17th-20th Centuries)
25th -28th April 2007
University of Minho Guimarães-Portugal
Please, do not quote without author’s permission
2
Strategies for biological and social reproduction in Azorean communities of Pico
Island
Norberta Amorim NEPS-University of Minho
Carlota Santos NEPS-University of Minho
Introduction
It is our opinion that the safest way to going through Family History from the modern to the
contemporary period lies in Historical Demography. Databases prepared for demographical
analysis, following individual courses in genealogical chain, are open to systematic
improvement by crossing sources with sociological or cultural information. Those sources are
more frequent and systematic regarding the 19th century, allowing us to make a deeper
analysis.
Our unit research (NEPS) has made great investment in the preparation of databases, though
still with a different coverage of the various regions of the country.
It was about the Pico Island, in the Azorean archipelago, that we more thoroughly carried out
the building of those databases and the systematic crossing of fiscal sources and census from
the 19th century.
In the Pico Island, with a population of 15000 inhabitants (more than 30000 in the beginning
of the 19th century) and a surface area of 433 km2, dominated by a mountain elevated 2351
metres above the ground, we find 17 civil parishes distributed by three municipalities located
by the seaside. It’s a recent island of volcanic origin, and its soil is poorly adequate for cereal
crops, specially at its western point, which is basically occupied by the Madalena
municipality. There, among burned rocks, the population managed to produce a wine of
superior quality, surrounded by a landscape that, having been classified as a World Heritage,
3
testifies to the overwhelming human effort undertook throughout the centuries in order to
maximize soil usage.
A demographic database that includes all the municipalities is almost concluded, allowing
future analysis on the whole of the insular territory. At the moment, we have systematized
demographical information about 14 civil parishes, and for 7 of those parishes we have
already crossed several sources, aiming for the deeper analysis of the History of the 19th
Century Family. Thus, the databases of S. João and Lajes (Lajes municipality), S. Caetano,
Candelária, Criação Velha and Madalena (Madalena municipality) and Santo Amaro (S.
Roque municipality), have already been improved with crossing of fiscal sources and census
with sociological information.
Material and Methods
The basic sources used in this study were the parishes’ birth, marriage and death records,
organised and analysed by applying the methodology of “parish reconstitution” (Amorim,
1991).
Except for Lajes, where we lack information regarding periods until the 2nd half of the 18th
century, in the other parishes we have verified a systematic coverage of baptism and marriage
records since the end of the 17th century. As for deaths occurring before the 2nd half of the 19th
century, the sub-record of under seven-year-old children was differently surpassed in each of
the communities.
The databases that were built for each community, allowing the analysis of demographical
behaviours in a long term perspective, are an extraordinary support for social analysis by
crossing the information obtained by the following sources:
a) “Róis de confessados” (status animarum) - Annual gathering of information about the
population that is obliged to respect certain parish precepts. Made by the parish priest, these
aim to supervise the abidance of the ecclesiastical rules. Since the end of the 1860’s or
beginning of the next decade, these lists included all the inhabitants of each parish, including
minors, turning into proper population census.
4
Considering the existing records and the proposed objectives, “róis de confessados” from
1883, of the parishes of S. João, Lajes and Santo Amaro, and of 1861, of S. Caetano (the only
“rol” we have from that period), have been selected and systematically explored. The
information crossing allowed us mostly to identify each individual born in the parish by
affiliation, date of birth and subsequent life course, as well as individuals born in other
reconstructed parishes of the Pico and S. Jorge islands.
In these lists, the parish priest would identify each house with a number by geographical
ordination and, in the case of S. João and Santo Amaro, distinguish, within each house, every
residential unit that was subject to parish rights.
Inside each residential unit, the individuals were numbered according to the family’s
hierarchy, and the family kinships were specified. Both householders and their wives have
been identified by their complete names. Children and other young dependents were referred
to only by their first names.
In the rolls of 1883 there is more complete information on each individual, such as sex,
marital status, age and profession. In all of them, there is information about the observance of
the parish precepts, its non-observance being often justified by death or emigration.
b) Passport records – These records, which exist since 1859 with reference to the parish of
origin, are difficult to analyse. They don’t mention the emigrant’s affiliation nor the name of
the spouse, which difficults identification, though mentioning name, age and profession, as
well as height, eye or hair colour and other particular characteristics. Since the majority of the
emigrants were single youngsters to whom only a first name had been recorded in baptism, it
wasn’t always possible, specially in the female case, to identify the individuals. The analysis
of passport processes, documentation of the Arquivo do Governo Civil da Horta (not available
to the public yet), could lead to a systematic identification. Still, thanks to the systematicity of
the databases, we were able to identify about 90% of the passport bearers.
c) Property records – In the early years of the 1880’s, the property records of the several
parishes of the island were closed. For each of them, the following aspects were identified:
rustic or urban property parcels, its area (measured in ares and braças), crop type, collectible
income (in réis) and property owner’s name.
5
All the information has been systematically gathered and crossed with a printed map of the
same property record1 where property owners have been identified by name and address and
the numbers of the property records they own are mentioned, making it possible to make the
connection between each family and the property owned by them, as well as to evaluate their
economical resources. The elaboration of boards and maps also became a possibility for us.
d) Other manuscript sources – We have organised the data provided by population Maps of
1836 (Lajes municipality) and 1838 (Madalena and S. Roque municipalities), kept in the
Arquivo do Governo Civil do Distrito da Horta.
For the parishes of Madalena, Criação Velha and Candelária , we have crossed the
information population Maps with the respective demographical databases, as to proceed to
the analysis of differential behaviours within those populations. In the absence of references
to female work as a source of family income, family behaviours were analysed according to
the profession of the householders, bearing in mind that, in the impossibility of knowing
exactly the degree of the economical condition of the family, the profession is mainly an
indicator of social status and of belonging to structural groups with distinctive characteristics.
For S. João, Santo Amaro and Lajes we have databases, which we tried to make systematic,
about the life courses of the inhabitants of each parish at the date of gathering of the
information of 1883. The choice of that year has to do with the possibility of crossing
information with the property records and with the consequent identification of the owners of
any rustic or urban property.
By studying the “róis de confessados” and the property records, each house was located in the
proper place, site or street. The members of each family were identified and, in the case of a
procreating family, we included the children that were later born in the parish. We tried to
find the affiliation of each individual, the date of birth, eventually the date of marriage or
death and, if that was the case, the exact or approximate date of exit from the island. We also
tried, for the heads of each residential unit, to find the residence of 1st degree relatives, parents
or siblings, if still living.
1 Map provided by Manuel Machado de Oliveira, to whom we thank
6
For each property owner, we presented a board with the respective properties, rustic or urban,
referring to site, area, crop type, type of house and collectable income.
In the case of S. Caetano, we have an identification of the inhabitants in 1861, but the fact that
the property records are not from the same year doesn’t allow us to establish a systematic
connection between each family and property.
Results
1. Marriage Strategies: spouse selection and age at marriage
The complex orography of the Pico Island, such as its arguable isolation, which has been
verified until very recent times (Rocha, 1991), has strongly conditioned the process of spouse
selection not only to the parish’s area but also to the place of residence. Economic and
sociocultural factors probably have simultaneously contributed to the intensification of this
tendency. In fact, the structure of small property owning itself has probably stimulated social
proximity and created solidarity ties between rural workers that owned small parcels of land
they cultivated to guarantee the living of the family, advising the concentration of property
via marriage and avoiding its excessive division, induced by a system of egalitarian
inheritance.
Using the information that was organised by crossing demographical databases with lists of
the inhabitants and property records, we proceeded to the analysis of the levels of
geographical endogamy and average age at first marriage observed throughout the 19th
century in areas of both urban profile (Madalena and Lajes) and rural profile (Criação Velha,
Candelária, S. Caetano, S. João and Santo Amaro), also considering the existing variations
between different occupational groups.
1.1. Spouse selection
1.1.1. Madalena, Criação Velha e Candelária
The values presented in Table 1 indicate that, in the whole of the parishes that integrate the
western region of the island, where establishing relationships with the Faial island is easier
and enlarges their horizons, Candelária stands out with the highest percentage of endogamous
7
marriages in any of the analysed periods (79.5% and 83.2%). On the contrary, Criação Velha
registers the highest rates of exogamous marriages where the male is of outsider origin. This
surely reflects kinship and cultural proximity relationships that have been established with the
families of Madalena throughout the 19th century (when Criação Velha was part of the
Madalena parish, being separated from it in 1801), explaining the 20.9% and 21.9% of
marriages involving mainly men from Madalena and women from Criação Velha.
Although the marriage market of the 19th century generations can be globally defined by an
accentuated endogamy and by the frail marital mobility of the female sex, we can clearly see
the differences between the surrounding area of the Madalena port, whose connection to the
city of Horta would stimulate marriage exchanges with individuals that were born in or live in
Faial, and the geographically more distant rural area of Candelária.
Table 1
Endogamy/Exogamy by parish (whole population) Endogamy Exogamy
1 Total exog. 2 3 4 Periods Total marriages N % N % N % N %
Madalena 1800-1849 783 591 75.4 192 71 9.1 108 13.8 13 1.7 1850-1899 569 404 71.0 165 51 9.0 85 14.9 29 5.1
Criação Velha 1801-1849 331 233 70.4 98 22 6.6 69 20.9 7 2.1 1850-1899 256 178 69.5 78 16 6.3 56 21.9 6 2.3
Candelária 1800-1849 737 586 79.5 151 31 4.2 102 13.9 18 2.4 1850-1899 446 371 83.2 75 26 5.8 40 9.0 9 2.0
1- ♂ ♀ from the parish 2- ♀outsiders 3- ♂outsiders 4- ♂♀outsiders
However, analysing the whole period of mixed marriages (when one of the spouses wasn’t
born in the parish or municipality) that have been celebrated in each parish, we have verified
that the marital movement towards Faial was relatively more intense in Candelária, in 49.1%
of the cases, whereas Madalena is preferentially oriented towards the other islands of the
archipelago or towards more distant localities of the continent, Brazil or the USA (Table 2).
Table 2
Direction of the marital movement by parish (whole period) Madalena Criação Velha Candelária Origin of outsider spouse % % %
Pico (S.Roque and Lajes) 54.9 64.7 37.3 Faial 26.5 21.6 49.1
Pico and Faial 81.4 86.3 86.4 Other islands 11.9 9.8 10.2
Other localities 6.7 3.9 3.4
8
Throughout the 19th century, the variety of the population’s professions was quite narrow,
with a vast majority of rural and maritime workers declared in the population Maps of 1838.
Big property owners and public workers were concentrated at the administrative centre.
The observation of Table 3 allows the conclusion that, among the several occupational
groups, endogamy rates were superior and more stable within the rural worker´s group, going
up to 88.8% in the 1st half of the century and 88% in the 2nd half. The maritime population
approached those rates during the 1st period, falling significantly behind during the 2nd.
Table 3
Endogamy/Exogamy by occupational group Endogamy Exogamy
1 Total exog. 2 3 4 Periods Total marriages N % N % N % N %
Rural workers 1800-1849 429 381 88.8 48 23 5.4 23 5.4 2 0.4 1850-1899 700 616 88.0 84 32 4.5 48 6.7 4 0.6
Maritime workers 1800-1849 90 79 87.8 11 6 6.7 5 5.5 0 0.0 1850-1899 170 138 81.2 32 10 5.9 18 10.6 4 2.3
Craftsmen 1800-1849 70 51 72.8 19 2 2.9 15 21.4 2 2.9 1850-1899 116 80 69.0 36 7 6.0 27 23.3 2 1.7
Property owners 1800-1849 56 36 64.3 20 6 10.7 11 19.6 3 5.4 1850-1899 86 56 65.1 30 7 8.1 12 14.0 11 12.8
1- ♂ ♀ from the parish 2- ♀outsiders 3- ♂outsiders 4- ♂♀outsiders
Whereas the craftsmen’ sector occupies an intermediate position, the property owner group
stands out for the maximum incidence of exogamous marriages, specially those involving
outsider women. The difference from other groups is specially remarkable in the case of
marriages between both brides and grooms who are outsiders to the parishes, going up to
5.4% (from 1800 to 1849) and 12.8% (from 1850 to 1899).
1.1.2 S. Caetano, S. João and Santo Amaro
For the rural parishes of S. Caetano, S. João and Santo Amaro (part of the municipalities of
Madalena, Lajes and S. Roque, respectively), which are more distant from a direct connection
to Faial, parish endogamy is even more intense. Going through the problem, we verify that
this self-enclosure isn’t only centered on the parish, also referring to the place of residence. In
fact, for the inhabitants of Pico, it doesn’t make much sense to speak of S. Caetano, S. João or
Santo Amaro as undivided spaces (Amorim, 2004; Amorim, 2005; Amorim, 2006)). In each
9
of these parishes, we can clearly distinguish two communities which are divided spacewise,
having identifying and sense-of-belonging symbols: in S. Caetano, there’s Prainha and Terra
do Pão; in S. João, Companhia de Cima and Companhia de Baixo; in Santo Amaro, Terra
Alta and Fajã.
To evaluate how frequently individuals married to spouses from the same site, we’ve adopted
some criteria to be applied to the three parishes. For each inventoried individual, married or
widowed, the place of residence of the 1st degree consanguine individuals (parents or
brothers, if residents) was considered. If the parents, or at least one of them, were still living,
their place of residence was taken as the individual’s origin.
In the cases where we identified three or more siblings of an individual with deceased parents,
the place where most of them lived was considered to be the origin of the family. In cases
where two siblings residing in a different place from the individual were identified, the place
where those siblings lived was considered to be the origin of the family. In the case of two
siblings residing each in a different place, the place of residence of the observed individual
was considered as the origin place of the family. All the others cases of individuals born in the
parish were considered as omitting place information, locating them in the parish. In cases
where it wasn’t possible to clarify the residence of 1st degree relatives but we knew the date of
birth, the individual was located in the parish.
Table 4, which refers to S. Caetano, shows a very narrow parish endogamy in the midle years
of the 19th century, with 95% of the men and 93% of the women, married or widowed and
deceased spouses, having been born in the same space. Few outsider men were found: ten we
suppose to be fom S. Mateus, one from S. João, two from Candelária, one from Madalena,
one from Bandeiras and one from S. Jorge, plus one of unknown origin. However, it is worth
noticing that S. Caetano was declared as an autonomous parish from big S. Mateus only in
1886. Concerning woman, there are fourteen we suppose to be from S. Mateus, six from S.
João, one from Lajes and two of unknown origin.
10
Table 4 S. Caetano
Spouse origin (residents by 1861) Place of residence
Terra do Pão Prainha Parish Men Women Men Women Men Women
Residence of 1st degree Consaguines
N % N % N % N % N % N % S. Caetano Same place 87 63 98 71 110 61 112 61 197 62 210 65
S. Caetano Different place 8 6 6 4 8 4 9 5 16 5 15 5
S. Caetano Unidentified place 36 26 29 21 52 29 46 25 88 28 75 23
S. Caetano Total 131 95 133 96 170 94 167 91 301 95 300 93
S. Mateus 4 3 2 1 6 3 12 6 10 3 14 4 S. João 1 1 3 2 0 0 3 2 1 0 6 2 Other parish of Pico 2 1 1 1 2 1 0 0 4 2 1 0 Other Azorean islands 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Unidentified parish 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 1 0 2 1 Other parishes Total 7 5 6 4 10 6 17 9 17 5 23 7
Total 138 100 139 100 180 100 184 100 318 100 323 100
Analysing same-place behaviour, and subtracting the cases of unidentified place, we verify
that, of the 96 men we know were born in Terra do Pão, only 8 went to Prainha to marry. Of
the 118 men we know were born in Prainha, only 8 seeked Terra do Pão for marriage, a
smaller proportion than the 1st one. Amongst the 104 women born in Terra do Pão, 6 married
in Prainha. Of the 121 born in Prainha, only 9 married in Terra de Pão.
The differences of attraction between each place don´t appear to be very significant. Men
from Terra do Pão that married in Prainha constitute about 8% of the total, whereas 7% of the
men from Prainha married in Terra do Pão. Female percentages were of 6% and 7%.
Through our observation, we can also state that spouse selection in S. Caetano was mostly
made within the place of residence, street or dirt road, which is only possible due to the
relative concentration of the urban spaces and the connections created between small property
owners that searched viability for the exploitation of their small properties.
As for Santo Amaro, the distribution in Table 5 also allows to conclude a strong parish
endogamy, though not as accentuated as in S. Caetano. In fact, 78.9% of the men living in
Santo Amaro or deceased spouses of the residing women were born outside the parish. In the
case of women, this percentage is of 82.5%.
11
Table 5 Santo Amaro
Spouse origin (residents by 1883) Local de residência
Terra Alta Fajã Parish Men Women Men Women Men Women
Residence of 1st degree Consanguines
N % N % N % N % N % N % Santo Amaro Same place 30 42,9 37 46,3 65 54,2 76 63,9 95 50,0 113 56,8
Santo Amaro Other place 7 10,0 4 5,0- 1 0,8 4 3,4 8 4,2 8 4,0
Santo Amaro Unidentified place 16 22,9 22 27,5 31 25,8 21 17,6 47 24,7 43 21,6
Prainha 3 4,3 3 3,8 5 4,2 4 3,4 8 4,2 7 3,5 Piedade 1 1,4 7 8,7 2 1,7 3 2,5 3 1,6 10 5,0 Ribeiras 4 5,7 3 3,8 6 5,0 3 2,5 10 5,3 6 3,0 Other parish of Pico 2 2,8 2 2,5 2 1,7 3 2,5 4 2,1 5 2,5 Other Azorean islands 4 5,7 0 0 5 4,2 2 1,7 9 4,7 2 1,0 Unidentified parish 3 4,3 2 2,5 3 2,5 3 2,5 6 3,2 5 2,5 Total 70 100,0 80 100,1 120 100,1 119 100,0 190 100,0 199 99,9
Otherwise from what one could expect, the parish of Pico which offered more grooms to
Santo Amaro´s women was Ribeiras, and not the neighbour parishes of Prainha or Piedade.
This comes as a result from the non-existence, at the time, of a connection road surrounding
the island, which made contacts easier through the woods. The pastures of Santo Amaro were
connected to Ribeiras’, and their maritime communities also shared preferential connections.
Outsider women came mostly from Piedade.
Of the outsider men that married in Santo Amaro and resided in the parish by 1883, 9 were
born in other Azorean islands, mainly S. Jorge and Terceira. In the case of outsider women,
only 2 were not born in Pico. Summarizing, no spouse born outside of the archipelago was
found in 1883.
If we analyse the situation by place, we verify that, in Terra Alta, marriage with outsider men
was more frequent, going up to 24.2% against Fajã’s 19.3%. As in most of the other parishes,
most men marrying Terra Alta’s women came from Ribeiras and other Azorean islands. In the
case of women, there is more variation between each place. Terra Alta attracted mostly
women from Piedade (Ribeirinha was, at the time, part of Piedade parish) than from any other
parish of Pico, and there were no women from outside the island. As one could expect, in
Fajã, most women came from Prainha, but without significant differences from the parishes
mentioned in the table.
For those born in Santo Amaro, the results found for local endogamy, without considering the
unidentified individuals, are yet very interesting.
12
Of the men born inside the parish and residing in Terra Alta by 1883, or deceased husbands of
resident women, 81% were born in the place. The percentage of women residents, or deceased
wives of resident men, was of 90.2%.
In Fajã, the percentage of men is of 98.5%, and of women, 95%.
It appears to be clear that both places of the parish of Santo Amaro, Terra Alta and Fajã,
affirmed themselves as two communities of low endogamous relationships. Notice that, in any
given case, marriages in other places of the parish are in lesser number than those outside of
it. However, men from the smaller place, Terra Alta, were more attracted to Fajã than the
contrary.
We admit that the bigger attraction for Fajã could come as a result not only of its higher
richness in terms of productive soil, but also of the existence of more diverse occupational
activities.
In the case of S. João (Table 6), we still find high levels of geographical local endogamy,
though inferior to those of Santo Amaro and approximate to those registered in S. Caetano.
Table 6 S. João
Spouse origin (residents by 1883)
Place of residence Companhia de Cima Companhia de Baixo Parish
Men Women Men Women Men Women
Residence of 1st degree
consanguines N % N % N % N % N % N %
S. João Same place 50 76 63 82 99 71 117 76 149 73 180 78
S. João Different place 6 9 5 6 6 4 10 7 12 6
15 7
S. Mateus 5 8 5 6 15 11 10 7 20 10 15 7 Lajes 3 5 1 1 7 5 8 5 10 5 9 4
Other parish of Pico 1 1 3 4 6 4 8 5 7 3 11 5
Faial parish 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 1 0 0 Other Azorean
islands 0
0
0
0
4
3
0
0
4
2
0
0
Total 66 100 77 99 139 99 153 100 205 100 230 101
Oddly enough, it was in the smaller place, Companhia de Cima, that the percentage of
spouses of both sexes born in the same place was higher: 76% of the men and 82% of the
women with access to marriage had the same geographical origin. In the case of Companhia
de Baixo, those percentages were of 71% and 76%, respectively.
13
Companhia de Baixo presented a bigger receptivity towards other parishes. Of the neighbour
parishes, S. Mateus and Lajes, it was with the first one that marital attraction relationships
were established the most. Marriages with individuals from other Pico parishes or Azorean
islands rarely happened. However, we found men born in Terceira, Graciosa and S. Miguel
who married women from Companhia de Baixo who had emigrated to Brazil or to the USA,
and who later returned with their families. No individual from Madeira Island or from the
continent was identified.
1.2. Age at first marriage
The evolution of the age at first marriage in the whole of Pico’s populations reflects the
important action of this demographic balance-generating mechanism (Hajnal, 1965),
clarifying the influence of depressive economic conjunctures which intensify differential
migratory fluxes.
We obtained the respective values by crossing information, starting with the exact dates of
birth of the spouses. In a transversal perspective, we observed, for the 19th century, the
marriages which appeared to be potentially “useful” from a female reproductive capacity
point of view, which, theoretically, starts at 12 years of age and rarely lasts after 49 years of
age.
1.2.1. Madalena, Criação Velha and Candelária
The extremely viticulture-dependent western region of the island was particularly affected by
the effects of the oidium plague which, spanning from 1853 onwards (Macedo, 1981), led to
an emptying of the fields and to the impoverishment of a significant population sector which
was direct or indirectly connected to the viticulture production, such as the craftsmen,
responsible for the production and preparation of the casks, or the port and maritime workers,
responsible for the shipping and distribution.
This context, prone to intensifying migratory exodus of medium and long distance, explains
the visible advance of the age at first marriage in both sexes and specially in women, with
14
excessive representation in the estimated sex-ratio for individuals in a reproductive age
(Santos, 2004).
Table 7
Average age at first marriage (<50 years) Men Women Periods N Average age N Average age
Madalena 1800-1849 555 29.0 617 25.9 1850-1899 369 30.0 443 27.0
Criação Velha 1801-1849 212 28.4 271 25.4 1850-1899 170 30.6 229 27.6
Candelária 1800-1849 510 26.9 573 24.4 1850-1899 336 28.2 372 27.6
Considering the different parishes (Table 7), we notice, in a frame of advanced average ages
at first marriage when compared to other regions on the same period (Henry & Houdaille,
1979; Flinn, 1981), a higher delay in Madalena and anticipation in Candelária, though the
women of this parish registered a higher increase from the first to the second period.
Table 8
Average age at 1st marriage by occupational group (< 50 years) Men Women Periods N Average age N Average age Rural workers
1800-1849 348 28.6 357 25.2 1850-1899 358 29.4 607 27.5
Maritime workers 1801-1849 75 25.4 78 23.7 1850-1899 130 27.2 152 26.1
Craftsmen 1800-1849 44 28.6 61 25.4 1850-1899 76 29.3 101 26.0
Property owners 1800-1849 35 28.5 44 25.1 1850-1899 46 35.0 62 26.9
Whole population 1800-1849 1331 28.0 1483 25.2 1850-1899 934 29.4 1075 27.2
Proceeding to a comparative analysis of the behaviours observed within the different
occupational groups, we notice significant variations that point to a considerable influence of
sociocultural aspects associated with land property, also verified in other regions of the
continental and insular territory (Brettel, 1986; Amorim, 1987; Mesquita, 1998; Scott, 1999).
As a matter of fact, in any of the analysed periods, the spouses of domestic units run by
maritime workers have always married at a younger age, in spite of the age advance registered
15
among women who married between 1850 and 1899, reaching the same average age (26
years) as the craftmen’s wives of the same period.
The averages of rural workers and craftsmen presented similar values, 28.6 years of age on
the 1st half of the century and about 29.4 on the 2nd half, whereas the ages of male property
owners rose differently. This suggests the existence of constraints towards passing on big
property in life or through succession, and also with the ability of activating homogamic
matrimonial alliances destined to preserve or concentrate assets.
1.2.2. S. João, S. Caetano and Santo Amaro
The average ages at first marriage in S. Mateus, S. João and Santo Amaro were very high,
with time variations of some significance in each parish.
Table 9
Average age at first marriage (< 50 years) Men Women Periods N Average N Average
S. Mateus (1) 1800-1849 779 27,8 878 25,0 1850-1899 533 30,3 627 28,5
S. João 1800-1849 267 29,2 325 26,1 1850-1899 198 29,2 252 27,5
Santo Amaro 1800-1849 146 28,3 200 27,0 1850-1899 156 29,5 182 26,1
(1) S. Caetano was a part of the large S. Mateus parish until 1886
Considering two long periods of half a century, the advance of the average age at first
marriage is relevant, resulting of disturbings of the matrimonial market caused by an
intensification of the differential male emigration. This doesn´t happen in Santo Amaro,
where only the male average age at first wedding increases from the first to the second period.
If we considered, in the last parish, only the two last decades of the 19th century and the first
two of the 20th century (Amorim, 2005) we had verify that the female average age at first
marriage is reduced, respectively, to 24.4 and 23.6 years of age, an unmatched result in other
parishes. In S. Caetano and S. João, the reduction of the average age at first marriage is only
more notorious in the first decades of the 20th century (Amorim, 1992).
16
2. Biological and social reproduction
The social reproduction of the Family is necessarily combined with marriage strategies and
biological reproduction, with the initial social conditions, environmental challenges and
individual responses to those conditions.
This analysis focused upon a socially more complex community, Lajes, with an urban nucleus
and a large rural area with four well defined places.
In the list of the parish’s residents by 1836, we can distinguish, among the householders, “property owners who make a living exclusively out of their property’s rent, those who add to their work some
other rent or pay and those who make a living exclusively out of their mechanic work or industry, besides those
who live in someway out of State wages, except militaries, and fixed-place beggars2.”
Considering the final counts in the list of residents, we estimated that, out of the 822
householders counted in 1835, only 13% would not be property owners (107 householders).
Obtaining the classification, the map indicates those who made a living exclusively out of
property rents (52 individuals heading 6% of the families), those who added to their work
some other rent or pay (662, or 81%) and those who lived exclusively out of their work (95,
or 12%). 13 state waged clergymen got individual classification, as well as 10 beggars, these
being counted as a part of the first and second referred categories.
In Table 10, we find interesting results by establishing a relation between profession and
property.
Table 10
Male professional activity and property owning (1836) Suficient rent Rent + work Without rent Total Professions/activities N % N % N % N %
Farmers 29 81 7 19 0 0 36 100 Shepherds 3 5 59 92 2 3 64 100 Rural workers 4 2 215 91 18 8 237 101 Maritime workers 0 0 47 73 17 27 64 100 Craftsmen 1 2 48 87 6 11 55 100 Others* 1 4 11 48 11 48 23 100 Without activity 6 12 38 73 8 15 52 100 Total 44 425 62 531
Clergymen, lawyers and clerks
2 There is no reference to ambulant beggars
17
As we can verify, without considering clergymen, lawyers and clerks receiving wages, the
maritime workers were the professional group with less access to property. Those
accumulating some rent constituted 73%, whereas the percentage of farmers or shepherds in
identical situation was over 90%. In an inferior position relatively to farmers or shepherds,
craftsmen had a closer relationship with property than maritime workers. The families who
could make a living out of rents were predominantly those of farmers, most of them with
shepherd children or employees, and those of urban property owners, some with noble ranks,
to whom no activity was connected.
By exploring the property record of 1885, we ranked male residents in four levels: two levels
of property owners and two of workers. In the property owners’ group we distinguished big
property owners, whose collectible income was of more than 100$00 réis, from those whose
collectible income surpassed 20$00 réis, without achieving that amount. These can be
considered as comfortably off property owners, who don’t need to work for someone else.
Among the workers, we distinguished those with collectible income of between 1$00 and
19$00 réis, with householders oscillating between being comfortably off and poor, most of
them owning their own house and some property, but needing to work for someone else in
order to make a living for their family. Finally, those who had less than 1$00 réis of
collectible income, who might own a small house, kitchen garden or some land, and who
might be classified as poor.
If we compare the ranks of 1836 with those of 1883, analysing property owners (making a
living out of their property’s rents), comfortably off individuals (rents and work), and poor
individuals (work), we find the same 12% of men in the lower rank, but with some differences
in the top rank. While, in 1836, 8% of families headed by men made a living from rents
(according to the parish priest), in 1883 we found 5% of male property owners with 20$00 or
more réis of rent. However, this comparison presents some difficulties, because we are not
considering, on the second date, those householders who, by total absence of property, are not
mentioned in the property records map, and we are including some single or widow men that
don´t appear as householders in the rol. On the other side, the initial rank of the classification
of property owners, medium or comfortably off, for individuals with more than 20$00 réis of
rent might be restrictive. Moreover, we shouldn’t forget the fact that individuals with
18
collectible income of more than 18$00 réis might also be considered as belonging to that
rank3.
Analysing the information in the “rol de confessados” of 1883, which specifies the different
socio-professional male categories, and focusing on working householders, we might
approach to the differential behaviours of land (farmers) and sea workers (fishermen), as well
as of the craftsmen. Here, individuals considered as property owners (collectible income over
20$00 réis) were excluded, whether they were maritime workers, peasants or craftsmen, as
well as individuals in the property record map who didn´t appear as householders. We
included workers who didn´t appear as owners in the map.
A first observation focuses in the evolution, from 1836 to 1883, of the percentages of workers
from the three chosen groups. While on the first date, 16% of the workers were connected to
the sea, on the second date the respective frequency was up to 23%, an increase that points to
a decrease of farmers (from 71% to 65 %) and craftsmen (13% to 11%). It is important,
however, to verify to what extent the percentual change within the different groups was the
same as the change in property owning.
Table 11
Position of the workers towards property (%) Comfortably off to poor Poor Total 1835 1882 1835 1882 1835 1882
Farmers 93 88 7 12 100 100 Maríitime workers 73 73 27 27 100 100 Craftsmen 89 77 11 23 100 100
Data on Table 11 reveal that, in spite of the relative increase of the number of maritime
workers, the percentage of those in the position of comfortably off to poor stays the same
between dates, including the large group of householders receiving from 1$00 to 20$00 réis.
At the same time, there appears have occurred a greater impoverishment of farmers and
craftsmen, though the delicate nature of this observation would advise us to be cautious in our
conclusions.
We may however conclude for the non-existence of significant oscillations within the parish’s
social fabric in the central 50 years of the 19th century, when there is a clear predominance of
3 In the rol of 1883, the parish priest classifies as property owners some householders with collectible income below 20$00 réis, but not in every case.
19
workers that, in its vast majority, had a house to live and some land for alimentary support.
The relative increase of the number of maritime workers may have an explanation of
sociological, but also of biological, order.
For a differential analysis of the biological reproduction, we have privileged two indicators:
average age at first marriage and reproductive success down to grandchildren. In order to do
this, we have selected fertile couples that started their marital life between the years of 1810
and 1829. Thus, we could benefit, in a large number of cases, from the identification of
professions made in the Map of State of the Population from 1836, which is not always given
in the parish´s records of that time. On the other side, these chronological markers allow us to
locate, in the roll of 1883, the socioprofessional situation of the third generation in an adult
age. For the same group of couples, we proceeded to the calculation of the average age at first
marriage.
Table 12
Differential bigenerational reproductive success
(Families that started procreating between 1810 and 1829) Average age at 1stmarriage Occupational groups Homens Mulheres Average number of children Average number of grandchildren
Property owners 28,6 25,9 6,0 10,6 Shepherds 25,9 23,9 5,9 21,4 Farmers 27,2 25,5 4,9 9,8 Maritime workers 24,0 23,1 7,3 13,8 Craftsmen 25,8 25,0 7,0 13,4 Whole population 26,7 25,0 5,6 11,9
As we can verify in Table 12, late marriage was more frequent among property owners (28.6
years of age), followed by farmers (22.7), shepherds and craftsmen (about 26), and finally,
falling far behind, maritime workers (24 years of age). These extreme results were to be
expected, knowing that maritime workers, who start working at the sea at a very young age,
would need minimum resources to start a family within the social demands of the group,
whereas property owners would have to find the conditions to, through inheritance,
matrimonial connections or emigration at a young age, try to maintain or improve their birth-
given status. The most surprising result has to do with the difference between the behaviour of
shepherds and farmers, who one could suppose would present more similarities.
As for the respective women, there is some parallelism with the male behaviour. The wives of
maritime workers and shepherds married at a younger age (before they turned 24), followed
20
by the wives of artisans (25), of farmers (25.5) and those of property owners, whose first
marriage happened when they were about 26 years of age. The predominance of farmers in
the community influences the average age at first marriage estimated for the entire population
during that period (26.7 for males and 25 for females).
We also noticed that the average descendency of these couples is of 5.6 children, whereas the
average number of grandchildren born in the community only doubles the number of children.
Considering the different socioprofessional groups, clear differences can be observed. The
difference of behaviour between shepherds and farmers is still surprising. In fact, shepherds
seem to demographically establish themselves more significantly, followed, by far, by
maritime workers, craftsmen, property owners and, finally, farmers.
Though conscious of the statistical frailty of the number of observed individuals, we’re led to
think, in the case of shepherds, not only about the importance of dairy products (milk, cheese
and whey) in the daily maintenance of the family, but also about the possibility that the
grubbing of new extensions of woods may have contributed, at the time, to the fixation of the
family’s workforce. On the other side, the obligation of going to the pastures, located hours
away from the village, on a daily basis, as well as the need of clearing the pastures every year
(which demanded a great concentrated human effort in the summer), may have caused a
decrease in the desire for emigration.
In the second position, the maritime workers stand out for their great reproductive success in
the community. If we think about the chance of family reproduction within the sea activities,
we may have found an explanation for the increase of maritime workers between the years of
1835 and 1882.
Oddly, we found a higher number of grandchildren among property owners than among the
farmers. One could expect the latter to be more prone to emigrate to the new world, but the
fact that passport records do not distinguish shepherds from farmers stops us from getting to a
definitive conclusion. Still, it is possible to analyse whether or not land-working individuals
were more attracted towards emigration than maritime activity individuals.
21
Though legal emigration is only known from 1859 onwards, it is possible to proceed to the
observation of differential behaviours in later periods, as passport records state the
professions of emigrants, whom, until the beginning of the 1870’s, preferred Brazil and, later,
the USA.
Table 13
Legal emigration by sex and male occupational groups (1860-1899)
Male socioprofessional category 5 years periods Males Females Total
Farmers. Marit. Crafts. Propert.. Other 1860-1864 47 20 67 34 2 1 2 8 1865-1869 76 35 111 52 5 2 4 13 1870-1874 119 50 169 82 10 6 10 11 1875-1879 70 30 100 53 4 7 2 4 1880-1884 87 62 149 62 9 7 7 2 1885-1889 37 75 112 22 1 1 8 5 1890-1894 62 76 138 45 3 3 3 8 1895-1899 16 49 65 8 2 1 4 1 1860-1899 514 397 911 358 36 28 40 52
The distribution of men by occupational groups, shown in Table 13, indicates that farmers
represent 70% of the emigrants, maritime workers 7%, craftsmen 5%, property owners 8%
and the others, where we included students, businessmen and individuals without occupation
(most of them having had 2 or 3 passports to the same destination), make a total of 10%.
By isolating the working population in the total of residents counted in 1883, we estimated
that 65% would be shepherds/farmers, 23% maritime workers and 11% craftsmen. Out of the
442 emigrants on these 3 categories, 85% were farmers, 9% maritime workers and 7%
craftsmen. Thus, the greater reproductive success of the maritime workers might, at least
partially, be explained by the lesser migratory movement of this socioprofessional group,
though the position occupied by shepherds is still intriguing.
For a reflection about the social reproduction throughout the 1800’s, we’ve started with the
data provided by the rol of 1883, relating the situations of that period with those lived by the
respective ancestors identified in the Map of State of the Population of 1836. Bearing this in
mind, we’ve selected the two most socially different groups – maritime workers and property
owners – as to proceed to an evaluation of the degree of relationship between these two
groups among themselves as well as with the other groups.
The observation of reproduction and professional homogamy in the case of maritime workers
reveals a frequent articulation with the workers’ and shepherds’ groups, sometimes with the
22
craftsmen, as if the professional option depended not as much on family insertion but but on
personal tendencies or on the evolution of the work market. However, maritimes living in the
privileged fishing areas of Ribeira do Meio or Vila passed their profession on to their children
more often, and married daughters of other maritimes more frequently.
Table 14 Socioprofessional situation of maritime workers’ parents and parents-in-law
Maritime
worker Shepherd
Rural
worker Craftsman Others Total
N % N % N % N % N % N %
Maritime worker 55 49 4 4 44 39 4 4 6 5 113 101
Wife 42 38 12 11 43 39 11 10 2 2 110 100
In fact, the results presented in the Table 14 indicate that only 49% of the maritime workers
with known ancestors and residents by 1883 were children of other maritime workers. 39%
were children of workers, and the rest were children of shepherds, craftsmen and others, and
among the Others section we can count two farmers and two individuals of unknown
profession.
Maritime workers searched for wives among the daughters of both maritime workers and
workers, 39% in both cases, then turning to the daughters of shepherds and craftsmen. We
couldn’t find any farmer’s daughter marrying a maritime worker.
Among the 2 groups of property owners, we have, however, encountered an accentuated
difference. Big property owners, most with noble ranks, residing in the Rua Direita da Vila ,
were distinguished clearly from farmers or shepherds distributed throughout the parish.
As the small number or property owners in both groups doesn’t ask for statistical analysis,
we’ll go through their respective behaviours by using two exemplary cases.
a) The case of a rural small property owner
José Vieira Cardoso, residing by 1836 in the parish’s residential unit nº 167, in the place of
Silveira, and classified at the time as a property owner making a living out of his rents, was
one of the 8 known children of Francisco Vieira Cardoso and Antónia de Jesus. We couldn’t
23
find his baptism records in Lajes, but at the time of his death, in the 24th of February of 1880,
he was mentioned as being an 80-year-old. He got married in the 26th of October of 1828
with Antónia de Jesus (whose date of birth we also don´t know), one of the 5 known children
of António de Ávila Bettencourt and Maria de Jesus.
The couple, José Vieira de Jesus and Antónia de Jesus, registered 4 children:
1. Maria de Jesus Bettencourt, the elder daughter, born in July 27th of 1829, married
at the age of 23 with Manuel Peixoto, son of property owners from the S. João parish, were
they would live.
2. Concerning Manuel, born in September 11th of 1832, we don’t have any
information since birth. We think he might have emigrated.
3. José Vieira Cardoso Jr., born in the 25th of October, 1834, married at 34 years of
age with Maria da Glória Bettencourt, 21 years old, the elder of the 6 children of Tomás de
Brum Bettencourt and Antónia de Jesus, property owners, from the same place of Silveira. In
1885, his collectible income was of 26$756 réis, maintaining his position as rural property
owner. José Vieira Cardoso and Maria da Glória would have 8 children, but only one of them
had children in the parish. Four of them died during childhood, two emigrated and one of their
daughters died as a single woman at the age of 69.
4. The younger daughter, Catarina de Jesus, born in August 24th, 1838, married at 30
years of age with Francisco de Brum Macedo, property owner, 49 years old. In 1885, his
collectible income was of 20$484 réis. They had 7 children, all surviving childhood. Three of
them left the parish, a daughter died as a single women at the age of 84, and the other 3 left
descendants in the parish.
As one can observe in this case, between the years of 1836 and 1883, the situation of usage of
property was repeated. Adequate matrimonial alliances, definitive celibacy and emigration
were the adopted strategies. We verified that, by causes of death, only 4 out of the 15
grandchildren of José Vieira Cardoso and Antónia de Jesus would have access to marriage.
However, the reproduction of the property owner status wouldn’t always be possible in other
cases. The egalitarian property division practiced in the region, as well as the low death rates,
worked in the direction of impoverishment, specially when the exploitation of a rocky and
distant land only becomes profitable with the incorporation of great human effort that the
family, in its different cycles, could or couldn’t undertake.
24
b) The case of an urban big property owner
To exemplify this category, we’ve selected the genealogy of António Bettencourt Cardoso
Machado, resident by 1836 in Rua Direita, place where most urban property owners lived.
Son of Sergeant Manuel Cardoso Machado Betencourt and Coleta Mariana Felícia, born in S.
Roque. We don’t have the baptism records, but had access to the records of two sisters,
Jacinta and Ana, both married within the parish.
1. António Bettencourt Cardoso Machado married in November 6th, 1823 with Josefa Carlota
Bettencourt, 22 years old, one of the 10 children of Lajes captain Tomé Cardoso Machado
and Inácia Joaquina Soares de Noronha e Bettencourt, born in the parish of Matriz, city of
Horta, Faial Island.
There are only 4 known children of this marriage:
1.1 António, born in the 20th of September, 1824, died during childhood.
1.2 Luísa, born in the 10th of August, 1825, also died during childhood.
1.3 Manuel, born in the 5th of September, 1834, unknown location.
1.4 Francisco Xavier Bettencourt Cardoso Machado, born in 1838, married at the age of 30
with Genoveva Inácia de Betttencourt, of the same age, daughter of a comfortably off
property owner, José Maria Bettencourt, and of his wife, also called Genoveva Inácia de
Bettencourt. We only know one daughter of the couple by death records
1.4.1 Maria da Glória, deceased at the age of 17, who we suppose was born before her
parent’s marriage.
By 1885, Francisco Xavier Bettencourt Cardoso Machado´s collectible income was of
356$185 réis.
António Bettencourt Cardoso Machado would also have another child of a single young
woman, Francisca Laureana de Bettencourt, born in the 20th of December, 1812, daughter of
Francisco Machado de Macedo, worker, and Maria Josefa, who died giving birth.
1.5. This child was António Laureano Bettencourt Cardoso Machado, born in the 26th of July,
1837. Notice that this child was identified at birth by the names of the parents and used, as an
adult, his father’s complete name, as well as his mother’s name, Laureana, in the masculine.
25
António Laureano , as he was known for, had by 1885 a collectible income of 218$536 réis,
which, though lower than his half-brother’s, still clearly included in the big property owner’s
group.
Married in the 27th of November, 1852, at the age of 15, with Maria Quitéria Bettencourt,
aged 14, born in S. João, daughter of António Silveira de Évora and of Maria Quitéria do
Amor Divino, he baptised 6 legitimate children:
1.5.1 The elder, Maria Palmira Bettencourt e Castro, born in the 3rd of December, 1856,
married at the age of 21 with Manuel Joaquim Azevedo e Castro, son of Amaro Adrião
Azevedo e Castro, born in the parish of Piedade, and Maria Aldina Carlota Bettencourt,
daughter of another sergeant of Lajes, Francisco Xavier Silveira Bettencourt, and of Águeda
da Encarnação de Jesus. Amaro Adrião de Azevedo e Castro, father-in-law of Maria Palmira,
resident by 1883, as a widow, at the Rua Direita, having a collectible income of 175$500 réis.
1.5.2. António Cardoso Bettencourt Cardoso Machado, born the 13th of December, 1860,
died as a single man at the age of 56.
1.5.3. Manuel Cardoso Machado Bettencourt, born the 20th of September, 1865, married at
42 of age with Maria da Glória Machado Soares Sousa Bettencourt, age 31, daughter of João
Manuel Rodrigues de Sousa and of Maria da Glória Machado Soares Sousa. João Manuel
Rodrigues de Sousa, whose parents were already dead by 1885, had a collectible income of
42$982 réis. However, the grandmother of Maria da Glória Machado Soares Sousa
Bettencourt, Ana Jacinta Bettencourt, widow of Manuel Machado Soares, had, at the time, a
collectible income of 269$173 réis.
1.5.4. Lucinda, born the 17th of September, 1869, deceased at the age of 17.
1.5.5. Amélia, born the 18th of January, 1876, deceased at the age of 5 months.
1.5.6. João, born the 9th of September, 1878, deceased at the age of 17.
António Laureano Bettencourt Cardoso Machado had a son with Doroteia Laureana
Bettencourt, one of the 10 children of José Maria Bettencourt, property owner (48$801 réis of
26
collectible income by 1885) and his wife, Genoveva Inácia da Conceição Bettencourt, also
living in Rua Direita.
1.5.7. António Laureano Bettencourt Cardoso Machado Jr., born the 6th of February, 1859,
before is half brother, who would share the same name, was a teacher by 1883, with a
collectible income of 33$530 réis. Married at 21 years of age with Maria Emília Machado
Soares, daughter of captain António Silveira Machado Soares, deceased, and of Maria Emília
Silveira Soares, residing by 1883 in Rua Direita, with the collectible income of 139$541 réis.
Notice that both António Bettencourt Cardoso Machado and António Laureano Bettencourt
Cardoso Machado had illegitimate children when married, and established them as heirs.
We’ll also follow the course, in the parish, of António Bettencourt Cardoso Machado, Jacinta
and Ana.
2. Jacinta Isabel Felícia Teles born in Lajes in the 18th of March, 1792, married at the age of
15 with Estácio Machado Dutra Teles, born in Faial, son of Tomás Teles Dutra Machado of
Luísa Teles de Noronha. The couple registered 3 children in Lajes, leaving it afterwards.
3. Ana Jacinta Bettencourt Soares, referred previously as the grandmother of Maria da Glória
Machado Soares Sousa Bettencourt, born the 8th of February, 1800, married at 17 years of
age to captain Manuel Machado Soares, born in Lajes, son of already mentioned captain
Tomé Cardoso Machado and of Inácia Joaquina Soares. Still a resident by 1883, she was, as
we could see, rated as having a big property owner’s collectible income. The couple baptised
10 children in Lajes:
3.1.Ana Carlota Soares Bettencourt, the elder daughter, born in the 9th of June, 1819, married
at the age of 29 with an outsider, Amaro Cristiano Paulino Azevedo e Castro, son of captain
Vicente Paulino Furtado and of Maria Laureana, left the parish.
3.2. Maria Laureana Soares, born the 2nd of January, 1821, married at the age of 22 with João
José Simas Vila-Lobos, son of José Silveira Vila-Lobos and of Josefa Teresa, from the village
of S. Roque, left Lajes.
27
3.3. Manuel, born in the 30th April, 1824, unknown location.
3.4. Tomé Cardoso Machado Soares, knight of the order N. Sra. da Conceição, of Vila
Viçosa, married Luísa Júlia Bettencourt, daughter of Estolano Inácio Bettencourt and of
Francisca Úrsula de Bettencourt, from the parish of Castelo Branco, Faial Island. Registered 4
children in Lajes, none having descendants.
3.5. António Silveira Machado Soares, born July 25th, 1830, had 2 children with Laureana do
Espírito Santo, born October 28th, 1836, posthumous child of Manuel Quaresma and of his
wife Maria do Espírito Santo. They got married afterwards, at 42 and 35 years of age,
recognising their children, Manuel and António. They had 2 more children inside their
marriage. By 1885, António Silveira Machado Soares had a collectible income of 72$056
réis.
3.6. Inácia, born the 26th of January, 1833, must have died as a child, considering that a sister
was later baptised under the same name, though there is no record of her death in Lajes.
3.7. Luísa Amélia Soares Bettencourt, born the 8th of October, 1834, married at age 22 with
Joaquim António Linhares, from Castelo Branco, Faial Island, son of António Silveira
Linhares and Dª Maria Teolinda Silveira. Left Lajes.
3.8. Jacinta, born the 20th of August, 1837, died after birth.
3.9. Inácia, second with that name, born the 22nd of January, 1839, died at the age of 8.
3.10. Maria da Glória Machado Soares, the younger daughter, born the 12th of September,
1843, married at 23 years of age with property owner João Manuel Rodrigues, age 27, son of
João Manuel Rodrigues de Sousa, born in Melgaço, and of Maria da Piedade, born in Lajes.
They registered 5 children, but only one daughter married in Lajes. The collectible income of
João Manuel Rodrigues by 1885 was of 42$982 réis.
As verified in the example, social homogamy has been systematically pursued in the group of
big property owners of Lajes, frequently enlarging the marital island beyond the island. Out-
28
of-marriage known connections happened mainly with daughters of small property owners,
and the resulting children were later recognised.
Conclusions
We have verified that the communities with the possibility of a more direct sea connection
with the nearby islands have more frequently engaged in marriage with outsider individuals,
like Madalena in relation to the Faial Island or, to a lesser degree, Santo Amaro in relation to
S. Jorge. The rural communities of Candelária, S. Caetano and S. João have shown very high
levels of endogamy, little influenced, in the case of S. João, by the comeback of emigrants
who have married in the USA. In S. Caetano, S. João and Santo Amaro, a very strong local
endogamy has been observed. In the western region of the island, the comparison of the
percentages of endogamic marriages within the different occupational groups has also shown
that, throughout the entire 19th century, rural and maritime workers have selected their
spouses mostly within the parish’s space, whereas the marriage mobility of the artisans, but
specially of the property owners, has always been notoriously more intense.
The average age at first marriage is somewhat significantly different between communities
and occupational groups. In the Madalena region, in a context of superior male age, the
population in general, and of both sexes, has married late. Property owners have always done
it at a most advanced age, whereas couples whose resources are based on maritime activities
stand out for the precocity of their first wedding.
The extreme economical dependence of the region towards viticulture, which has intensified
migratory exodus in the male population of a professionally active age as a result of the
oidium plague that has devastated vineyards since the beginning of the 2nd half of the 19th
century, has clearly disturbed the balance of the marriage market, contributing to a general
delay of the marriage throughout that period. Generally speaking, differential emigration has
decisively influenced the age at first marriage in the island, especially within those
communities which are particularly shut to the outside world.
About Lajes, where we proceeded to an analysis of the social and biological reproduction
considering the various occupational groups, we’ve observed that maritime workers also wed
at an earlier age, that their children also get married within the same group and that their
29
grandchildren are preferentially kept within the community, creating a demographical growth
throughout the century.
Rural workers, who stand as the majority of the population, have been more afflicted by
emigration, and the only possibility of social establishment would be a successful return
home.
Small property owners have developed strategies for social reproduction at the same level,
through late marriages, celibacy and through sometimes unsuccessful migratory experiences.
Social balance, in an egalitarian inheritance system, would become precarious if one of these
preventive strategies stopped being followed or lost effectiveness.
Big urban property owners, a minority inside the property owners’ minority itself, chose
homogamic unions of local character or searched in the outside for the alliances lacking inside
the community. The low incidence of matrimonial alliances with small local property owners
was, to a large extent, a result of the existence of illegitimate children.
Literature cited
AMORIM, M. N. (1987) – Guimarães 1518-1819. Estudo Demográfico, Lisboa, I.N.I.C
AMORIM, M. N. (1991) – “Uma metodologia de Reconstituição de Paróquias desenvolvida
sobre registos portugueses”, Boletín de la Asociación de Demografia Histórica, IX, 1: 7-25
AMORIM, M. N. (1992) - Evolução Demográfica de três paróquias do Sul do Pico (1680-
1980), Braga, Universidade do Minho, Instituto de Ciências Sociais.
AMORIM, M. N. (2004) - O Pico. A abordagem de uma ilha. Vol. I – As Famílias. Tomo I -
As famílias de S. João nos finais do século XIX, Câmara Municipal das Lajes do Pico/NEPS.
AMORIM, M. N. (2005) - O Pico. A abordagem de uma ilha. Vol. I – As Famílias. Tomo II
As famílias de Santo Amaro nos finais do século XIX, Câmara Municipal de S. Roque do
Pico/NEPS.
AMORIM, M. N. (2006) - O Pico. A abordagem de uma ilha. Vol. I – As Famílias. Tomo III
As famílias do espaço de S. Caetano entre os séculos XIX e XX, Câmara Municipal da
Madalena/NEPS.
30
BRETTEL, C. (1986) – Men who migrate, women who wait. Population and History in a
Portuguese Parish, Princeton, Princeton University Press
FLINN, M. W. (1981) – The European Demographic System, 1500-1820, Suffolk, The
Harvester Press
HAJNAL, J. (1965) – “European marriage patterns in perspective” in Glass, D.V. e Eversley,
D.S.C. (eds.), Population in History, London, Edward Arnold
HENRY, L. & HOUDAILLE, J. (1979) – “Célibat et âge au marriage aux XVIIIe et XIXe
siècles en France, II. Âge au premier marriage”, Population, 34, 2: 403-442
MACEDO, A. L. S. (1981) – História das quatro ilhas que formam o distrito da Horta, fac-
símile, vol. 3, Angra do Heroísmo, Direcção Regional dos
MESQUITA, M. H. (1998) - Evolução demográfica da Criação Velha, paróquia do Sul do
Pico (1801-1993), Ponta Delgada, Direcção Regional da Cultura
ROCHA, G. (1991) – Dinâmica Populacional dos Açores no Século XX – Unidade,
Permanencia, Diversidade, Ponta Delgada, Universidade dos Açores
SANTOS, C. M. (2004) - Biodemografia do concelho da Madalena – estrutura demográfica
e genética de uma população açoriana da ilha do Pico, tese de doutoramento, Universidade
do Minho, Instituto de Ciencias Sociais
SCOTT, A. S. (1999) – Famílias, Formas de União e Reprodução Social no Noroeste
portugués (Sécalos XVIII e XIX), Guimarães, NEPS/ICS, Universidade do Minho
