Sao Miguel Orphanage - Asilo de Infancia Desvalida aka La Mãe de Deus

[Elaine Sharp]

Eliseu,

 

Are you familiar with La Mae De Deus which was previously Asilo de Infancia Desvalida orphanage?  My aunt, Belmira Victor,  was there in the years 1891-1902.  She returned to visit there in 1968 and did obtain several documents but not one states where she was born.  I have written to the President a few times seeking further information about her and he has been most kind but they did not have any further information and referred me to the Archives.  I sent them several donations for the children in her memory and they sent me a beautiful 150th anniversary book.  Unfortunately, the information Belmira was seeking on her return visit and I still am is where she was born, why she was placed in the orphanage when her siblings were not.  Her siblings were born in Terceira, Sao Jorge, Faial but so far we have not found her birth record.  I am curious as to why she would have been placed in an orphanage in Sao Miguel when it seems the parents mostly lived in Terceira.  Did the parents die there?  This Victor family research will keep me busy for the rest of my life.  Belmira's father was born in Castelo Branco, Portugal and her mother in the Algarve area.  They had a family circus that travelled all over those islands and seems to have birthed children all over those islands also.

 

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