The Sardinha de Paiva, Jardine and Sousa families

Joao Sardinha de Paiva arrived in St Vincent as a wealthy man around 1875. He met and married Mathilda Augusta de Sousa who had been born in St Vincent and they went on to have four children, Cyril Demeter Sardinha de Paiva who died shortly after birth, Arthur Oswald, Maybel Leofrida and Ada Millicent.
Joao Sardinha was a property owner in Kingstown and also owned grocery shops and when he died in 1890 he had left Mathilda and the children well provided for. On his death he was buried in Kingstown cemetery.(see cemetery photo)
Francisco Sardinha who was also a shop owner and in the baking trade, married Mary Cossow in 1878 and they went on to have fourteen children. The first child, Matthew, was the only one that took up the baking tradition. The last of the fourteen shared his fathers name Francis Augustus was trained to be a land surveyor.
It was a tradition in Madeira that everyone had a nickname which was really how they were referred to and Joao and Francisco were no exception. Joao carried the name ‘Parvey’ and Francisco was known as ‘Cruger’, the latter being by all accounts a bit of a handful.

At the time Mathilda had met Joao she had also met John Veira. It was John that she went on to marry following the death of Joao Sardinha producing four children from the marriage, Theresa Eugenie, John Leon, Cyril Claude and Albert Owen.
During this period my grandfather Arthur Oswald (Egerton) went to Trinidad to study medicine but had to return to St Vincent before he finished his studies because funds ran out. It was said that John had spent the Sardine money.
Ada and Mabel (Maisie), with some of their inheritence from their father bought land at Camden Park on which they built Sisters Cottage in 1911. It was here that they lived, and also Mathilda, John Veira and John de Sousa who was the father of Ermine, Mabels daughter lived there. Dads sister Kathleen also lived at the cottage from an early age. Maisie took care of her mother Matilda and John Veira at her home until they both died. Maisie and Kathleen ran a thriving shop here and also the bakery where my father Monty learn’t the baking trade.The Bakery at Camden Park was in operation very early on and supplied the leeward side of the island. Mabel and Sousa died within six months of each other.

John Sardines Grave

I remember being at Sisters Cottage immediately after the death of Aunt Masie returning home to Long Wall shortly before Sousa's death.
Kathleen and Ermine stayed at Sisters Cottage and following the death of Emine, Kathleen remained at the cottage until she left around 2001 to move to Dads house at Rose Cottage with my sister, and where she died. Sisters Cottage then became derelict but is still standing today.

Cheryl at Sisters Cottage 2007