The Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (AHU) - Overseas Historic Archive – has three main collections: Conselho Ultramarino (sixteenth century to 1833), Secretaria de Estado dos Negócios da Marinha e Ultramar (1834-1910) and Ministério do Ultramar (1911-1975). These collections constitute the institutions created in order to manage the Portuguese colonial administration, and contain much documentation on leprosy. While the contents of this archive remain to be researched in detail, preliminary enquiry has unearthed the following sample:

In the Bahia section of the Conselho Ultramarino [Overseas Council] Collection (Série: Brasil – Bahia, Boxes 1-281, Docs 1-19610, 1604-1828), there are manuscripts pertaining to the leprosy hospital in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. One, dated c.1744 (Box 79, Doc 6583) is a request from José Luís Vieira to King D. João V, to establish a hospital in the grounds of the church of São Lázaro. Others (Box 125, Doc 9760; Box 144, Doc 11058) dated mid-1700s, relate to the creation of a lazaretto for people with infectious diseases in Bahia. A document from 1787 (Box 189, Doc 13900) is from the soldiers of the Fourth Regiment of Terço de Henrique Dias, to the Marine and Overseas Secretary of State, complaining that D. Rodrigo José de Meneses, governor and captain-general of Bahia, did not invite them to the inauguration of the Hospital dos Lázaros.

Some documents relate to the appointment of staff. For example, in Box 224, Document 15553 (1802) from the Marine & Overseas Secretary of State, João Rodrigues de Sá e Melo, Viscount of Anadia, to the Overseas Council, regards the request for an administrator and general treasurer at Bahia Lazaretto. A decree (1803) from the Prince Regent, D. João, (Box 229, Doc 15857) names José Avelino Barbosa as the hospital doctor. Another document from the same year (Box 229, Doc 15873) from Barbosa to D. João requests a permit specifying the salary for his post.

Document 16945 in Box 245, dated c.1807, is a request from the administrator (Gonçalves Moniz) and the inspector (Manuel Henrique de Carvalho) of Hospital dos Lázaros, Bahia, to D. João, for confirmation of the amount levied against flour sold in the city for maintenance of the hospital. An incomplete document from 1814 (Box 257, Doc 17813) is a record of outstanding work needed to complete the Bahia Lazaretto.

Entry made 22 October 2003
Entry updated 16 December 2003