Madeira

One of my paternal great grand-fathers came from Madeira. His name was Rochard; Samuel Rochard. He was white Jew and he left Maderia late in the 19th century and went to live in Trinidad.

There he met and married my great-grandmother, Gidique, a six foot jet black woman who had been born into slavery, but ‘emancipated’ as a child.

It is said that my great grandfather had a good job working for a Jewish businessman, until one day someone made fun of his dark skinned wife, and he said, “That’s my wife… don’t disrespect her.” He was fired for it, and had to take another job working in a shop to keep his family.

My grand-father, Eddie Matthew Rochard, disowned my father when he was born. Never claimed my father, but as the story goes when my grandmother, Marcelina Lord went to his family home and begged for assistance for my father, my grand-father was shouting and saying it wasn’t his child, and Samuel, my great-grandfather came outside and TOOK my father from my grandmother, looked him in the face and said, “This is my grandson.”

Although my grandfather, NEVER did anything for my father, Samuel did. Samuel would come and take my father out for walks, bring him home to meet the rest of the family, help my grandmother financially when he could and all the other members of the Rochard family always, always accepted my father as family after that. They accept me too of course. In fact, my father’s brother Boysie is to date my favourite Uncle.

Part of wanting to go to Madeira for me, is that I really want to go there and trace my great-grandfather’s lineage. Although I don’t inherit his Judaism, because that only comes down the matrilineal line, I know he must be recorded somewhere as being a Jew, and his family, and who they were, where they lived; that is terribly interesting to me.

For me, I want to know where this good man that was my great-grandfather came from. I want to walk there, and see if I can find where he was born, and if any of his people are still living there.

A bit too turistic, however it has stunning places to visit such as the mountains, following the levadas, the fishing villages…

I’ve been here in august, which obviously is not the prettiest season for Madeira. But still I found it a very beautiful island, with a width varienty of plants, animals and habitats. And in august the island is not crammed with grandpa’s and grandma’s, actually not with a lot of people at all. It’s a good place for people who like to take a (sometimes difficult) hike in the nature.

An African island, Madeira is part of continental Portugal. An otherworldly place, the island has a strange out-of-time feeling to it. A dormant volcano, the island is steep, and driving to the top of the mountain that makes up it’s interior involves traveling through the clouds. Wild.

Worth visiting, but stay at that, there isn’t much to do and hardly any opportunities to do a lot of things, people are generally closed minded, and can be somewhat rude and horrible, been living here long enough to know that much, the island is quite beautiful, but lately the growing number of buildings and roads is destroying it’s beauty, the Maderan elected politician, called names to the mainland journalists, and is even now against the Chinese being here with their little businesses! ... Hypocrites. Though you can find quite a few nice people, when you find the nasty beware…. A lot of Portuguese here say they aren’t Portuguese they Maderan, sort of like someone in New York saying they aren’t American their New Yorkers as a nationality. Plus a high rate of animal mistreatment… as an Author once said “You know a country by the way they treat their animals”. So worth visiting, but not worth staying in my opinion, then again just my opinion!

I was taken here when I was young but don’t remember it at all, I’d love to go back.