João Soares de Sousa (1493, in Vila do Porto – 2 January 1571, in Vila do Porto) was the third Donatary-Captain of Santa Maria, succeeding his father João Soares de Albergaria, who had died in 1499. Biography Early life João Soares de Sousa was born in Vila do Porto in 1493, the son of João Soares de Albergaria and Branca de Sousa Falcão. The third Donatary-Captain of Santa Maria, João Soares was the first born on Santa Maria. Since João Soares de Sousa was six years old when his father died, his father's lieutenant João de Marvão—a knight in the Royal House and sheriff of Vila do Porto—served as regent until 1522. Soares de Sousa began serving as Donatary-Captain in 1522, holding the position until his death in 1571. His position was confirmed on 13 March 1527. Donatary-Captain João Soares de Sousa was maritime commander, a man of "elevated stature, swarthy, strong and animated, a noble man and charitable". He rented his lands on the island in a way that mitigated Santa Maria's endemic poverty by pardoning debts and extending deadlines, as well as by not requiring a fixed payment for the use of mills. Azorean donatary-captains were known for charging a fixed rate, but João Soares allowed people to pay what they could and never cited them for their debts. In years when crops failed and famine struck the island, he permitted people to kill sheep, but required them to return the pelts and wool. At the beginning of Soares de Sousa's captaincy, João de Aveiro—a notary from São Miguel—was sent to Santa Maria by the Corregedor António de Macedo in order to challenge Soares de Sousa's mandate, due to a judgment against him. Sousa was sent to Lisbon as a prisoner, where he appealed his sentence and was ultimately freed. On 12 July 1517 he sold concessions to soap production on the island of São Miguel to Henrique de Bettencourt. The captain and his family lived on the current Rua de Frei Gonçalo Velho in Vila do Porto, where the ruins of his home still exist. Curiously, the five existing doorways providing access to the compound are not original, but were designed by sculptor António Teixeira Lopes in 1924 during a visit by Azorean intellectuals. Later life João Soares de Sousa first married Guiomar da Cunha, the well-connected daughter of Francisco da Cunha, who was also a cousin