Originally Posted on November 28th, 2012
In contrast to the commercial prowess of the Barretto family, the descendants of Antonio Rafael Alvares followed a less glamorous path. Alvares sons initially concentrated on public service, some using the military as a means to wealth and social status. Others followed their fathers into the army, but later entered the priesthood, a few achieving a degree of notoriety. In later generations, however, many entered medicine as doctors, medical school teachers, researchers, and epidemiologists, following this career path through the 19th century.
Why did the Alvares family move in these directions and not in others, as the Barrettos did in business? Their careers seem to be more than a matter of personal choice, instead tracing the historical arc of Portugal’s colonial empire. Given developments during this period, the move from the military to medicine in the years after Antonio Alvares’ death may be evidence of disillusionment, and perhaps a new beginning as Macau and Hong Kong developed. In fact, there seems to be a pattern between Alvares’ biographies and the decline of Portuguese fortunes in Asia from 1700 to 1899 that may account for the choices made by the family.
History and Changes in Occupation
By the late 17th century, Portugal’s colonial empire was crumbling. Following the settlement of Goa, Macau, Brazil, and coastal Africa, the wealth in these territories was controlled by Spain and subject to Spanish conflicts with England, France, and the Netherlands. Spain’s defeat by these powers, together with the capture of Portuguese ships by the English and the creation of navigation charts by the Dutch, fed European interest in Asia’s commercial potential.
Following Dutch attacks on Portuguese ports from 1597 until 1663, Portugal lost most of its overseas empire, with the exception of Goa, Macau, Timor, Brazil, and Mozambique. Only an alliance with England in 1661, which ceded control of Bombay to Charles II, allowed Portugal to maintain a tenuous hold on trade in the Far East.
Increased competition between the Dutch and the British forced Portuguese colonists, now largely cut off from Europe, to fend for themselves. Support from Lisbon, in the midst of revolts against the monarchy by republican factions, was almost non-existent. Pressures on the Portuguese garrison in Macau during the late 17th century were probably significant. It is conceivable that there was disenchantment, especially among the middle and lower ranks, in addition to resistance from the indigenous population, which made life for a colonial soldier harder and more risky.
The treatment of native Indians and Chinese, and intermarriage with local women, introduced other variables. Slavery involving laborers, cooks, and young women remained an issue in both Goa and Macau. Compounding the problem was the policy of authorities to encourage soldiers to marry indigenous women in order to create familial bonds. The slow eradication of slavery in Portuguese territories, which did not end until 1758, was no doubt difficult for local garrisons staffed with mixed race soldiers.
But Portugal’s colonial policy had other effects. It produced a new race of people, part European and part Asian, with a different set of priorities. Coming home to their households, many colonial soldiers may have been forced to reconcile outdated laws and attitudes with the realities of life in their own families. It was understandable for some, including the Alvares’ who enjoyed a long tradition of military service, to question their roles in the colonial hierarchy and, in time, influence their children to seek other careers.
The Great Transition
We can see the change reflected in the history of Captain-General Antonio Alvares’ family. For example, his oldest son, Vicente, was born in Goa around 1690 during Portugal’s colonial decline. He was later appointed a pharmacist in 1726 by the colony’s Chief Physician, Jose Henriques Siqueira. But after Vincente’s second wife died, he entered the priesthood, serving at the church of St. Bartolomeu’s at Charao until his death in 1738.
Vicente’s son from his first marriage, Manuel Caetano Alvares (1709 -1766), also avoided the military, instead becoming one of the first doctors to practice in both Portugal and its colonies. Like his father, Manuel became a priest after his wife died, but continued to practice medicine until his death in 1766.
A son from Vicente Alvares’ second marriage, Pedro Antonio Alvares (1760 – 1803), ended a long career as a Colonel in 1797. However, one of Pedro’s sons, Caetano Francisco Alvares, entered the military around 1780, became disenchanted, and was ordained a priest in 1787 at the church of St. Caetano of Goa.
The transition away from the military continued among Alvares descendants through the end of the 19th century, a period in which some began migrating to the last Portuguese colony in Asia, Macau. In 1813, for example, another son of Pedro Alvares, Antonio do Rosario Gonzaga Alvares was a doctor and a Captain in Margao, Goa. Less than a decade later, Antonio’s eldest son, Joaquim Filpe Constancio Alvares, became a doctor outside the army in 1822, and was appointed chief medical officer of Damao, another city in Goa. His younger brother, Camilo, also entered medicine in 1831 and was later appointed Attorney General of a district in India.
Two other members of this generation made significant contributions in research and epidemiology. Camilio Dionisio Alvares was the director of the Laboratory of Clinical Analysis at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lisbon. In this role, he was a pioneer in the detection of tropical diseases, and collaborated with other scientists to isolate an Indian parasite that caused “Kala-Azar”, also known as “Black Liver”. His cousin, Joao Jacques Floriano Alvares, was a doctor in the Medical School of Goa in 1849, who was later appointed Chief Medical Officer in Macau in 1872. Joao Alvares was later decorated by the Macau government for helping to check a cholera epidemic in 1889.
Taken as a group from 1700 to 1899, the percentage of Alvares men who left the military for other professions was significant. In the 18th century, for example, 40% stayed in the army, 40% became priests, and 20% were doctors. In contrast, by the 19th century the transition was in full force. Over 59% of Alvares men were doctors, while only 3% remained in the military and 6% entered the priesthood. Equally important, two other professions began to emerge in the family. In the same century more than 18% of Alvares men were attorneys outside government, while 12% taught in schools and universities.
A Confluence of Conditions
Thus, a confluence of conditions in the 19th century suggests that a change in careers among the Alvares was no coincidence. Disenchantment, slavery, indigenous marriages, the loss of Portugal’s economic influence, and perhaps the attraction of new opportunities drove them away from the military. On the other hand, Macau, and soon Hong Kong, drew them toward other professions. Macau was an early staging area for the British East India Company, and for “country” traders, such as Jardine and Matheson, who dominated the merchant economy in later years. As a result, the health of its labor force and commercial staff was an important consideration in maintaining England’s early presence in Asia. Medical men were in high demand. The work of Joao Alvares and other Macanese doctors in Macau was recognized as contributing to the colony’s new role.
By the end of the second Opium War in 1860, the transition was complete. The influence of Goa and Macau had dimed as Hong Kong rose as the center of British trade. Descendants of the Alvares family, as well as the Barrettos and many others, gravitated to the British port as the pace of trade increased. Doctors, pharmacists, and men of commerce were soon joined by linguists, bookkeepers, compositors, and teachers who made the leap from Goa, and later Macau. Each occupation provided an outlet for skills and talents that could no longer be sustained in India, but were sorely needed as Hong Kong began its ascendance.
