Well, Doug, and Nancy, not having been born, or grown up in the islands, I can't speak definitively about the customs. However, I was brought up to respect persons in the community. In my case the terms I was to use were Senhor e Senhora - that, and the fact that I didn't speak a word of English before entering parochial school, one might say that I was brought up as a Portuguese [expatriate]???
On Tuesday, April 29, 2014 12:22:26 PM UTC-4, Doug da Rocha Holmes wrote: > Estimada Dona Nancy, > > You are talking about modern usage where every adult female is dona. > I was recently looking at civil records in Rio de Janeiro and every bride > was Dona in the early 1900s - 100% of them. > > It has now become common and shows respect, no different than Mr. Coelho > or Mrs. Johnson. > > But in the older church records, before 1910, it is far more sparingly > used. It evolved from the early 1600s when it was way more uncommon to > being more like today's usage by the time we get to 1910, but still way > more uncommon than today. > > Doug da Rocha Holmes > Sacramento, California > Pico & Terceira Genealogist > 916-550-1618 > www.dholmes.com > > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: RE: [AZORES-Genealogy] use of "dona" > From: nancy jean baptiste <[email protected] <javascript:>> > Date: Tue, April 29, 2014 8:54 am > To: azores group <[email protected] <javascript:>> > > I think the use of "dona" can be applied very arbitrarily. I've seen many > old records where it appears to be noble families but it's also simply used > as a sign of respect.....our bankers on Pico always call me "Dona" Nancy > and that's certainly not because of a noble rank! We have a neighbor who is > the wife of a professor and she is always referred to as Dona Manuela. > > Nancy Jean > > ------------------------------ > From: [email protected] <javascript:> > To: [email protected] <javascript:>; [email protected] <javascript:> > Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] use of "dona" > Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 23:17:22 -0700 > > Hi Dano, > > I just wanted to mention that I have many ancestors who were capitao, > alferes, sargento and one tenente, plus another ajudante, not one of them > whose wife was called "Dona." Mine are from Pico and Terceira - mostly Pico > for my military ancestors. I do know they were "from old and noble > families" or some such wording in priest applications. I guess they just > didn't get that higher level treatment for some reason. > > Come to think of it, I even have some Capitao-mor ancestors or sons of my > ancestors and still their wives were not "dona." > > But you are right in most cases that on other islands we would see "dona" > for their wives. I guess it's just a quirk on Pico, but "dona" was > certainly found on Pico. I have one single ancestors with "dona" and she > was the wife of an administrator of a "vinculo" so I guess that finally was > enough to qualify. But her mother was not a "dona." It came from her > husband, yet his mother was not "dona" either! > > Since my only comment was about the use of this word, I changed the > subject. > > By the way, your comment about your failing eye sight came as a surprise, > since you still show no sign of it preventing you from reading the records > well. Impressive, but sorry to hear about that. > > Doug da Rocha Holmes > Sacramento, California > Pico & Terceira Genealogist > 916-550-1618 > www.dholmes.com > > > -- For 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." --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
