Dona Ana Joaquina dos Santos Silva was born in Luanda in 1789, the daughter of Portuguese Junior Officer Joaquim de Santa Ana Nobre dos Santos and a local Luso-African, Dona Teresa de Jesus (Barbosa de Mascarenhas, 2008, pp. 156-157; Lopes Cardoso, 1972, p. 5; Wheeler, 1996, p. 284). ${ }^{3}$ She was first married to Portuguese Infantry Major João Rodrigues Martins with whom she had her only daughter, Dona Tereza Luíza de Jesus, born on 4 December 1815. ${ }^{4}$ In the early nineteenth century, Martins owned 200 head of cattle, a highly valued commodity in western Central Africa, illustrating that he had become a wealthy man after marrying the most important female merchant in the colony (Pacheco, 1990, p. 181). After the death of her first husband, Dona Ana Joaquina married the Brazilian merchant, Joaquim Ferreira dos Santos Silva, with whom she had no children (Lopes Cardoso, 1972, p. 9). Her second husband engaged in various business activities, often in partnership with his wife. For instance, in the 1840s, the couple sent several sailing vessels to Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and the Congo River. ${ }^{5}$ Joaquim Ferreira also  
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[^0]:    3 According to Pacheco (1990, p. 208), Joaquim de Santa Ana Nobre dos Santos was a pardo (of mixed European and African background).
4 According to Lopes Cardoso (1972, p. 9), she had two daughters with her first husband. However, the author does not present any source that confirms the existence of a second daughter.
5 Arquivo Nacional de Angola (ANA), Cx. 47, "Termos de Fiança" 1840, pp. 217-220.