The Portuguese in Trinidad.

My mother, Ena Helen Govia (sometimes spelt "Gouveia"), was of Portuguese ancestry. The Portuguese were described as a "minority" in Trinidad, and the Caribbean (The Portuguese of Trinidad and Tobago: Portrait of an ethnic minority Culture and entrepreneuship in the Caribbean),* but their influence extended far and wide.

...historians tell us that the Portuguese have been part of the life, economy and social culture of the Caribbean since the 15th century. History has it that the first Portuguese to set foot in the West Indies were the sailors on board Christopher Columbus’ three ships—the Santa María, the Pinta and the Nina—which landed on the small island of San Salvador (or Guanahani) in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. Columbus learnt to become a skilled sailor and map-maker in Portugal, the most important seafaring country in Europe at that time. There he met many experienced sailors, some of whom accompanied him on his maiden voyage to the New World, although he was at the time at the service of the Spanish Crown and not at Portugal’s service.  Since the days of Columbus, the Portuguese have emigrated over the centuries in large numbers to the Caribbean for a variety of reasons, mainly religious, political and economic.

Source: The Portuguese in the Caribbean.


Portuguese explorers included the famed Vasco da Gama and Henry the Navigator.

Many of the Portuguese left Europe as a result of religious persecution.  

The two most important waves of migration to the Caribbean were (i) those of the Portuguese Jews, who immigrated from the 15th to the 19th centuries for religious reasons and (ii) those of the Portuguese from the island of Madeira, who came to the Caribbean in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, also for religious but mainly for economic reasons. These two waves of Portuguese immigrants have greatly im-pacted on the economic and social development of the West Indies. Their influence can still be felt today. The first group of immigrants were Sephardic Jews who left Portugal to escape from persecution by the Catholic Inquisition in that country. It is difficult to give exact numbers of the Portuguese Jews that settled in the Caribbean because they are said to have come between the 15th and 19th centuries, but they certainly came in large numbers (several thousand)...

Practically all countries of the region—from Guyana (then Demerara, British Guiana) to Cuba—received agricultural workers from Madeira. The great majority settled in Demerara and Trinidad (including, in the latter case, the persecuted Protestants of Funchal, who received the protection and assistance of the Greyfriars Presbyterian Church of Port-of-Spain). The rest is history and is well documented in the works of many distinguished descendants of Madeirans, for example, the scholars Sister M Noel de Menezes of Guyana and Dr Jo-Anne S Ferreira of T&T. From their writings, we learn that the Madeiran people moved from the agricultural fields, soon after their arrival in the Caribbean, to enter not only shop-keeping but also other professions and trades. Today, they are in all walks of life, fully integrated into the political, economic and social life of the West Indies, with their important social contribution being felt everywhere in the region. 

(The Portuguese in the Caribbean)

So my father, of Italian-Corsican ancestry, married my mother (when she was 19), who was a descendent of the Portuguese settlers in the Caribbean. Both came from "prestigious" European families, who made Trinidad their home.

* "Though few in number, the Portuguese contribution to their adopted homeland is of a significance beyond the small size of the community."

Links:

The Portuguese in Trinidad.

Jo-Anne S. Ferreira, The Portuguese of Trinidad and Tobago: Portrait of an ethnic minority (Culture and entrepreneuship in the Caribbean).

Jo-Anne S. Ferreira, Portuguese in Trinidad. 

Corsica Today.

The Magic of Corsica:




In spite of its luscious physical beauty, Corsica today is known as "the murder capital of Europe":


Corsica: Lawlessness in heart of Europe:



I have no illusions that my Corsican ancestors left a peaceful paradise, because conflict and violence have always been at the heart of Corsica. Indeed, when Simon Agostini arrived in Trinidad, he may have seen the tropical paradise as a stark contrast to Corsica. It may well have reminded him of the physical beauty of Corsica, in spite of the heat and humidity, but also as a place where he could safely re-establish himself and lay the foundation for his descendants to enjoy peace and prosperity for many generations. Under British rule, despite the taint of slavery until 1834, Trinidad became a tropical island paradise for Simon and his descendants.  

The Corsicans in Trinidad.

When I was very young, my father told me that he believed that the Agostinis originated in Florence, Italy. He did on occasion mention Corsica.

But not as anything substantial to our family history. When we (my parents and I) visited Italy in 1967, and indeed visited Florence, my father expressed his opinion that this was where the Agostinis originated (1). What I later discovered is that my family migrated from Italy to Corsica. In a nutshell, Corsica, originally was under Italian rule, and was divided between the French and Italians, and the French eventually gained full possession of Corsica. My great, great grandfather, Don Simon Agostini, migrated to Trinidad sometime between 1783 and 1797. The historical records vary on this date, though there is no doubt that Don Simon was in Trinidad before 1800. (David Agostini believes that his arrival in Trinidad was somewhere nearer to 1797, based on documentation that he was there on 5 March, 1797. ( The Ancestors, pp.7, 10)

Although Simon's birthdate is uncertain, it is believed to be around 1769, the same year in which Napoleon was born, and probably in the same city, Ajaccio, Corsica (2).  If this birth date is correct, it would place Simon arriving in Trinidad at roughly 14 years of age, in 1783. Accounts do vary, but it seems to me that the 1783 arrival date is more consistent with historical records which say that Simon arrived in Trinidad when he was 14. If the later dates are accurate, then it would mean that he was in his twenties when he arrived in Trinidad. In any case, the most important point is that he was in Trinidad before 1800. 

Simon fled Corsica when it came under French rule. He sided with the British, and made his home on an island (Trinidad) that would eventually come under British rule, in 1797. Sir Ralph Abercromby took possession of Trinidad in that year. The Spanish (Trinidad was discovered by Columbus on 31 July, 1498, on his Third Voyage) were vastly outnumbered by Abercromby's navy and military. With some sixteen navy ships loaded with artillery and thousands of foot soldiers, Abercromby virtually walked unhindered into Trinidad, and the Spanish surrendered possession of the island without a fight (3). In 1962, Trinidad gained independence from Britain, and eventually became a Republic in 1976.

How the Agostinis weave into this complex story will be told in the following posts. I welcome corrections and additions, realising that there are people far more knowledgeable on this subject than I am. Unfortunately, that knowledgeable number is small, and it will continue to dwindle as they pass on.


(1) I have further (and contrary) information about this to be added later.

(2) Some other suggested dates will be added later.

(3) Information from David Agostini, The Ancestors.