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.
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.
[4] 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.
He was buried in the presbytery of the Church of Nossa Senhora da Assunção (Our Lady of the Assumption) in Vila do Porto, near the door to the sacristy.