Manuel Antônio Ribeiro de Castro, Baron of Santa Rita
Manuel Antonio Ribeiro de Castro, first baron with greatness of Santa Rita (8 November 1767 — 26 May 1854), was a Portuguese-born Brazilian merchant, plantation owner and politician. Biography. Castro was born in São Miguel de Caldas, then archbishopric of Braga, parish of the municipality of Guimarães, currently parish of the municipality of Vizela, Portugal. In 1789 he was a merchant registered at the Royal Board of Trade of Lisbon. He emigrated to Brazil and settled in Vila de São Salvador de Campos (present-day Campos dos Goytacazes). As the region  was experiencing a great development in sugar production, he became a prominent farmer. Castro was the last captain-major of the former Vila de São Salvador de Campos dos Goytacazes. He was a knight of the Imperial Order of Christ and an officer of the Order of the Rose. He received the title of Baron of Santa Rita, referring to the parish of Santa Rita da Lagoa de Cima, currently the district of Ibitioca in Campos dos Goytacazes, where his Fazenda do Queimado was located. Greatness was granted by decree of 11 October 1848, although there was no rectification in  the "Holders of the Empire". He died on his farm of Queimado, parish of Santa Rita da Lagoa de Cima, in the municipality of Campos dos Goytacazes. Genealogy. Castro married on 24 May 1797 the camper D. Anna Francisca Baptista de Almeida Pinheiro, known as "The Fortune", a large landowner, widow of Captain Jerônimo Álvares Pereira, mother of Commander João de Almeida Pereira and grandmother of counselor João de Almeida Pereira Filho. The couple had the following children: