João José Xavier de Carvalhal Esmeraldo Vasconcelos de Atouguia Bettencourt Sá Machado, 1st Conde de Carvalhal da Lombada.
One wonders if he had a nickname?!
He was born on 7th March 1778 and died aged 59 on 11th November 1837.
In spite of his great wealth, the 1st Conde who owned much land on the
island lived without luxury or ostentation and was a man of generous
and liberal principles. History relates that he did much to alleviate
the suffering of the poor during periods of economic crises.
During the Miguelite wars the Conde whose sympathies were strongly on
the liberal side, had to leave Madeira to seek refuge in England by
boarding the English corvette `Alligator´ on 22nd August 1828.
He returned to the island in 1834, was given the title of Conde de
Carvalhal da Lombada on 5th September 1834 and became Civil Governor of
Funchal on 13th September 1835.
His principal town residence was the Palácio de São Pedro today
occupied by the Funchal Natural History Museum. If you should visit the
Museum, look up above the entrance and you will see his coat of arms.
In the summer, balls and picnics were given. The Arquiduquesa
Leopoldina of Austria was entertained by the 1st Conde at the Quinta in
1817 as she passed through Madeira on route to Brazil where she was to
marry Dom Pedro 1.
Many of the old trees including groves of Metrosideros (Christmas day
tree), til, planes and oaks which can be seen today – are attributed to
the Conde de Carvalhal. Dying unmarried in 1837, he left no direct
descendant so that the title and estate were passed to his nephew the
2nd Conde, who was only 6 years old at the time.
He was buried in the chapel on the estate and 40 years later, his
nephew the 2nd Conde had his mortal remains removed to the Angustias
Cemetery in Funchal.
To learn more about the history of the Palheiro Estate choose a link below:
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