Lynne, My ancestors are also from Lisbon. Matter of fact, I will be visiting some cousins there this year. Lisbon records are easy, IF YOU KNOW THE PARISH THEY CAME FROM, and even if you do not speak/write Portuguese, you can still manage the records when you learn a few words. I believe there is a word list somewhere to help read the records. So,
(1) go to your nearest Family History Center if you go to www.familysearch.org click on Library on the top row then click on Family History Centers put in Australia and then Melbourne and it will give you a list of the centers nearest you. (2) Go back to home page and Click on Library/Library Catalog Click on Place Search and type in on Lisbon on first line and Portugal on second line Click on Portugal, Lisbon - Church records - Inventories, registers, catalogs Click on Inventário de registros católicos guardados no Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo por distritos Then you can click on each of these that comes up and it will give you some of the records that area available on film that you can order. It usually takes 3 weeks and costs about $5.50 here in the US, I am not sure what it will cost in Australia or how long it will take. If you have any problems with the above, just print it out and the people at the FHC are very helpful and can help you figure out what film(s) to order. These church records are by date and then FIRST name, so if the first name is a really common one, like John/Joao it will take some time as you have to read each record to look for the parent's names. Also, on this same site, you might put your ancestor's name where it says Search Records on the home page and maybe someone has already done some of the research. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW THE PARISH THEY CAME FROM, the Arquivo Nacional daTorre do Tombo in Lisbon will do the search for you. I have been there and did some research there a few years ago, it is a very big place and very quiet. I do not know what there fees are these days, when I ordered mine via email a few years back, they were not too steep and they did not charge if they did not find the record. I did not know the parish when I ordered mine from them, I just gave them the full name (remember the records are by FIRST name, but they will need the full name - I was fortunate, my grandmother had an uncommon first name) that they came from Lisbon, and if you know where in Lisbon that is very helpful, and approximate date of birth. They were able to find the birth record and marriage record I was searching for. I think this is their new website: http://www.dgarq.gov.pt/ but it is in Portuguese so I am not sure. Maybe someone else on the list knows if there is another email address for them. I hope you can understand the above, if not, let us know. This is a great list and we will try to help you. I know the Portugal list is not active these days--it used to be very active. You might try searching their Archives and see if anyone has done any research on your family. "E" --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
