This is where years of experience in genealogical research pays off. Let me give a personal example. The microfilmed records of Bretanha marriages go back to 1703 and Canto's index only goes back only to 1736. But the archives has the mauscript of the late father Luís Octávio dos Reis of Bretanha, whose hobby was the genealogy of the people of Bretanha. His births go back to 1606! And then there if the manuscript of André de Sousa Dias. He was Vicar in Bretanha in 1727 and discovered the remnants of a much decayed parish register. Fearing that the remaining records in that book would eventually deteriorate completely he copied out what was left in that old rotting book. Thus we have baptisms from 1606 to 1679 (with many gaps) and marriages going back from 1569 (also with many gaps) to 1677. That still leave a space of about 25 years before the available microfilmed marriage records begin. And then once you've exhasuted those non-microfilmed sources you can then turn to other sources. There are published records of wills and entailments. There are also the geenalogies of Carlos Machado (available for view of the CCA site) and the genealogies of Rodrigo Rodrigues.There is Frutuoso, Cordeiro and Diogo de Chagas. When I started my research, all of my known ancestors were peasants although like so many other families, we had our legends about nobles and royals. Eventually I was able to connect back to King Fernando I. The Azores was settled by successive small groups of people. Their surving children and grandchildren had a small number of possible marriage partners and thus there was frequent intermarriage. Once estates were entailed, there was another reason for arranging advantageous marriages from a restricted social class. Entailments almost assured that the children and grandchildren of Morgados, who were not first sons, would soon decline into the peasant class since they did not inherit very much and were not, therefore, considered good marriage prospects. My research connected my peasants back to the original settlers. And some of those settlers had well established lineages going back to nobles and royals. There are genealogists who will do your research for you for a fee. George Pacheco is one of the most talented genealogists I know and his prices are more than reasonable. However, if you have the time and access to a FHC, you can do the work yourself for the cost of the microfilm rental. (The FHC in Dartmouth, MA already has all of the Azorean microfilmed records on permanent loan, so there would not even be a rental cost involved). The more research you do, the further back you go, the less you will need to spend with a researcher and the greater the likelihood you will be able pick up in the nicely printed texts of Rodrigo Rodrigues. Once you connect to a noble or a royal there are plenty of reliable print and on line sources that will take you back to the Middle Ages! Just about every Azorean descends from several of the settler families. But you've got to have the patience and the time to work your way back to them, or the money to engage a researcher. John Miranda Raposo
--- On Sat, 3/19/11, MIKE A <[email protected]> wrote: From: MIKE A <[email protected]> Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Re: How long are records at The Bibliotecas and Arquivos kept To: "Azores Genealogy" <[email protected]> Date: Saturday, March 19, 2011, 5:51 PM Thanks Cherri for the info. So basically d biblioteca's records go just as far back as what the fhlc has in their databases. So if. We would like to go further back then what the fhlc's records what other avenues are there for record keeping in the azores? Or are we simply out of luck? On Mar 19, 12:23 am, Cheri Mello <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Mike, > > The Azores have their own division of records. > > Recent records (present to about 100 years ago) are held at the Registo > Civil (Civil Registry). Each concelho (like an American county) has a Civil > Registry. > > Records older than 100 years are shipped to the Biblioteca e Arquivo. The > Azores has 3: > Ponta Delgada: Holds the records from Sao Miguel and Santa Maria > Angra: Holds the records from Terceira, Graciosa, and Sao Jorge. > Horta: Holds the records from Faial, Pico, Flores, and Corvo. > > Records are shipped from the Registo Civil to the Biblioteca usually in > years that are divisible by 5. Last, year, 2010, the Biblioteca received > records from 1906 - 1910. In 2015, the Biblioteca will receive records from > 1911 - 1915. That's a rough estimate. The Registo Civil may ship more > books if space is needed there. > > The Biblioteca holds records back to the beginning. Or what's left of > them. You can always check the Family History Library Catalog to get a > feeling for what is there and then bring it up to the current - 1910. N.S. > da Conceicao in Ribeira Grande has baptisms, marriages, and deaths from 1699 > - 1910. But if you go pick on another church, say Sao Miguel Arcanjo in > Vila Franca, you will find that the baptisms are from 1598-1910, marriages > from 1670-1910, and deaths from 1673-1910. However, there is an index for > baptisms that exists from 1565-1639. So either the earliest baptisms no > longer exist or they are so deteriorated that they couldn't be filmed in the > mid-1980s. And since the marriages and obitos begin in the 1670s, the same > must be true - the books no longer exist or they are in extremely bad > shape. > > The Torre de Tombo is the National Archives of Portugal, not the Azores. > > I'm not sure of the current price. I haven't written in a while, but I seem > to remember someone trying to get a record there from last summer. Maybe > that person can repost what her cost was. I can't recall at the moment. > > Cheri Mello > Listowner, Azores-Gen > Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, > Achada -- 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." -- 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."
