The Boys form Brazil

................................
>From 'The Illustrated London News', September 25th, 1852
A correspondent writes from Rio:
"A short time ago a great number of boys were shipped at Liverpool for Rio,
and have now been landed for some time-short, indeed, but sufficient for
them to have received the most scandalous treatment. They are principally
kept in a small fort in the centre of the harbour, known by the name of
'Vilganhon', at which they are made to break stones, or sent to the beach to
collect shells
for lime, badly fed, and their pay detained for fear of their desertion. No
letters are allowed to be written by them to their friends, and they would
be a thousand times better off in any of our convict hulks. Two little
fellows the other day, seeing an English naval officer in a store, ran up to
him and related, with tears in their eyes, the treatment they had been
subjected to, which, indeed, was such as I find it impossible to put in
writing. These two little boys begged that officer to take them on board the
English Admiral's ship (the eldest was not twelve years' old). He could not,
however, interfere, before they were summoned down to their boat, where they
were kicked and knocked about in a manner that makes an Englishman's blood
boil to think of. This I have been a witness to, frequently.
Fellow-countryman, I beg and pray of you, no matter what the extremity may
be you are driven to, keep your children from the hands of the Brazilians."
>>>>>>

An interesting story.  I discovered more in the diplomatic correspondence in
NA/PRO in FO 13/295, 302, 304.

The story broke in an anonymous letter to The Times 21 Sep 1852 along the
lines of the above.  The naval officer, probably the master of HMS CENTAUR,
never reported the events to the British Consul in Rio at the time (probably
July 1852).  As soon as word reached Rio it was taken up with the Brazilian
Foreign Office and Navy who within a day or two had investigated enough to
determine that all the boys should be released from service.  Although the
above report did contain some exaggerations (for example - only one boy was
as young as 12 - they did not do stone-breaking - and their food was navy
standard for Brazilian conditions), there was certainly both criminal and
dishonest behaviour behind it all.

In short, the Brazilian consular agent in Liverpool, Sr Froes (Francis Henry Froes or Joao (John) Froes), and a
Brunswick Street boarding-house keeper named Bennis, conspired to induce 67
poor Liverpool boys aged 12 to 17 - including many from the Industrial
School and the Work House - to sign up for service in the Brazilian Navy.
They were told that they would receive 7/= to 10/= per month, receive an
education, training in a trade or as a servant to a gentleman officer, and
be returned to Liverpool at the end of their service.  They were required to
sign contracts in Portuguese assuming that they set out what they had been
told - some went with the blessing of their equally-duped parents, others
against their wishes.  The went in several groups on the following ships
(arrival dates in Rio) - boarding was generally "on the quiet":

8 Nov 1851 brig HEATHER BELL (20 boys)
5 Feb 1852 brig QUEEN (10)
4 Mar 1852 brig ENCHANTRESS (8)
12 Mar 1852 barque(ship?) INDIAN (8)
3 Jun 1852 warship AMAZONAS (16)
14 Aug 1852 warship AMAZONAS (5)

The boys, like Brazilian boy sailors, were posted to various Brazilian Navy
vessels either in Rio harbour or elsewhere.  In addition to the conditions
reported above, not one received any training in any trade and they were
given only a Portuguese alphabet book (and forbidden to speak English on
pain to detention) - there were also widespread attempts at "the unnatural
crime" by Brazilian navy officers or seamen.

Over the following 2-3 months all were delivered to the British Consul and
retuned by the RN to the UK, except for 5 who had died (no details of the
circumstances, but probably likely to be from yellow fever) and 9 who had
deserted.

There are more sources, in the NA/PRO and elsewhere, yet to check in filling
out this story further - in particular I am interested to discover more of
the Liverpool end.  If anyone has access to Liverpool newspapers for the
period Sep 1852 to mid-1853, I would be glad of some help there.  This
started on TheShips-L, but I am copying this to Mariners-L and
South-Am-Emi-L in case there is some interest or help amongst those
communities.

David Asprey