'exposto' babies 1864-1871

[David Jezek]

i have something odd with my GGgrandmother. in the years 1864-1871 Maria Rita (1821-1883) has eight babies given over to her. the word 'exposto' is used in each of their death records. none of the babies live more than a year, most only about six months. Maria Rita's death record mentions 'several' abandoned babies being in her care but doesn't give the exact number. on the babies' death record Maria Rita is referred to as a single woman but she's with my GGgrandfather Manuel Silveira Machado who isn't dead until 1880. can't find a marriage record, though. Manuel and Maria Rita have at least one child of their own, Maria Da Conceicao in 1861. There's one last daughter Maria in 1873 i think is theirs as well. questions i have are: where are the babies coming from? are these from mothers dying in childbirth? is there something contagious happening at this time and sick babies are also without parents at the end? how does a woman end up being the caregiver for this many weak infants? did Maria Rita simply become known as someone who was called to this kind of duty? did she take the first couple of children and then the rest of the town knew they could count on her? why is she noted as a single woman when she should have been known to be married to Manuel? is the identity of the birth mothers and fathers unknowable? is there anything known historically about this time period that would be a clue? a typhus outbreak or something?

[Cheri Mello]

David J,

In America, if a woman does want or can't keep her baby, she can drop it off at a "Safe Center" in a hospital or at the fire station. In the Azores (historically), they left the baby at the roda at the church or convent. Some people did leave the baby at someone's door. Your Maria Rita was probably paid by the town hall to care for those babies.

You may have more than one Maria Rita in your freguesia. Without looking at the records of the children she had with Manuel, it's hard to say and have answers to your questions.

Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada

On Sun, Aug 17, 2025 at 3:35 PM 'David Jezek' via Azores Genealogy <azo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

i have something odd with my GGgrandmother. in the years 1864-1871 Maria Rita (1821-1883) has eight babies given over to her. the word 'exposto' is used in each of their death records. none of the babies live more than a year, most only about six months. Maria Rita's death record mentions 'several' abandoned babies being in her care but doesn't give the exact number. on the babies' death record Maria Rita is referred to as a single woman but she's with my GGgrandfather Manuel Silveira Machado who isn't dead until 1880. can't find a marriage record, though. Manuel and Maria Rita have at least one child of their own, Maria Da Conceicao in 1861. There's one last daughter Maria in 1873 i think is theirs as well. questions i have are: where are the babies coming from? are these from mothers dying in childbirth? is there something contagious happening at this time and sick babies are also without parents at the end? how does a woman end up being the caregiver for this many weak infants? did Maria Rita simply become known as someone who was called to this kind of duty? did she take the first couple of children and then the rest of the town knew they could count on her? why is she noted as a single woman when she should have been known to be married to Manuel? is the identity of the birth mothers and fathers unknowable? is there anything known historically about this time period that would be a clue? a typhus outbreak or something?

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[Alan Francis]

Hi David,

My 3rd GG was an exposto, i.e. abandoned baby. He was left in the "roda" (foundling wheel) at the Santa Casa de Misericordia de Ponta Delgada in 1812. 

From what I have learned about this practice, single mothers were sometimes the ones who "abandoned" their baby as they were unable to care or support a child, But it was not uncommon for the mother to return to the hospital and "offer" to wet nurse the "abandoned" baby. Other women with breast milk would also "offer" to care for these babies. I put "offer" in quotes as these women were usually paid by the municipality for this service. I have seen this practice referred to as an "early welfare" system. Families would take in older expostos for the same reason... they got paid to raise the child. I believe the municipalities would pay a stipend for child care until age 7 but I am not positive regarding the age. My GG was in this situation. He never took the name of the family that raised him. He went by the name he was baptised, Francisco da Camara which roughly translated to Francisco, ward of the city. 

If you would like to learn more, check this article... https://www.persee.fr/doc/efr_0000-0000_1991_act_140_1_4457

By the way, this practice was not unique to the Açores. It was practiced across many areas of Europe at the time.

Alan Francis

On Sun, Aug 17, 2025 at 6:35 PM 'David Jezek' via Azores Genealogy <azo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

i have something odd with my GGgrandmother. in the years 1864-1871 Maria Rita (1821-1883) has eight babies given over to her. the word 'exposto' is used in each of their death records. none of the babies live more than a year, most only about six months. Maria Rita's death record mentions 'several' abandoned babies being in her care but doesn't give the exact number. on the babies' death record Maria Rita is referred to as a single woman but she's with my GGgrandfather Manuel Silveira Machado who isn't dead until 1880. can't find a marriage record, though. Manuel and Maria Rita have at least one child of their own, Maria Da Conceicao in 1861. There's one last daughter Maria in 1873 i think is theirs as well. questions i have are: where are the babies coming from? are these from mothers dying in childbirth? is there something contagious happening at this time and sick babies are also without parents at the end? how does a woman end up being the caregiver for this many weak infants? did Maria Rita simply become known as someone who was called to this kind of duty? did she take the first couple of children and then the rest of the town knew they could count on her? why is she noted as a single woman when she should have been known to be married to Manuel? is the identity of the birth mothers and fathers unknowable? is there anything known historically about this time period that would be a clue? a typhus outbreak or something?

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[Cheri Mello]

Yes, a child would stay the family until age 7. At age 7, they could choose to remain with that family or go find another family and work for them. It was something I learned from Joao Ventura, the archivist, in one of his lectures.

Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada

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[Philippe GARNIER]

Hi David,

Your GG garndmother "take care" of a lot of exposto babies. Generaly, when a baby is exposto the Camara designed a married woman to take care him in her home. The batismal record of the child wrote : " exposto dado a crear a (nome da mulher)". "given to take care to (woman name)".

Best regards

Philippe GARNIER

Paris - France

https://philippegarnier112.wixsite.com/familiasilhaterceira/copie-de-familias-da-ilha-terceira

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