I gather from other members of this group that in the past few years the Regional Archives housed in the Azorean public libraries in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira, and Horta, Faial, no longer permit patrons to handle the original baptismal, marriage or death registry books, but you can still look at them online in the libraries and print out (for a modest charge) the scanned pages. At the PDL library there are some staff who speak excellent English (I recall in particular one lady with a degree from York University in Canada), while not so much in Horta. Still, the staff might be able to help you decipher some of the writing in those records.
As I posted to someone else in this group on another thread recently, if there are places you want to visit, and you can afford it, it may be worthwhile to have your hotel desk clerk or concierge line up a bilingual tour guide to show you around Faial (it's not very big), and request ahead of time an emphasis on the villages where your family is from, mentioning your family surnames -- because your guide may know some folks and places there that you'd enjoy going to see. Back in 2004, the rate was 20 Euros/hour, so it might be more by now. Boa viagem! Katharine. -- 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."
