Ruben, Thank you so much for doing the research to summarize this process and what the records contain. Wonderful! Cheri
Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada On Thu, Aug 2, 2018 at 2:25 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Cheri, > > I was doing some research about these documents and came across some > information that explains more about them. The first is a scope and content > section in the arquivos.azores.gov.pt website which says that these were > required special processes that occurred when the heirs were minors, > disabled, or absent. These inventories were originally called "Inventarios > Orfanologicos" and then as just "Inventarios" which were required until > 1994. After 1994 there was a law number 227/94 of September 8th that > eliminated the requirement. > > The other place I found more information was in the forums of a Portuguese > genealogy website called geneall.net. It says that when the judge had > knowledge of someone's death whose heirs were minors, disabled, or absent, > it was required to administer their rights. In this case, the head of > household (which was the surviving spouse or if both were deceased, the > eldest child) was summoned to appear in court in three days to, under oath, > present required statements, organize a family council consisting of five > persons including family members, or friends of the heirs being > administered. Only after this, the process of creating the inventory would > start. The law required that the "inventariante" or head of household to > make a statement under oath describing all of the assets left by the > deceased. It goes on to say that the penalty for perjury of any assets was > the loss of the assets that were not mentioned to the co-heirs. > There are several parts to these inventories: (sorry for not having the > proper accentuation, but my keyboard doesn't have them) > > - Declaracoes de Cabeca de Casal (Head of Household Statements or > Declarations) > - This is the most important part of these inventories from a > genealogy standpoint, because it contains information about the > deceased, > the head of household or surviving spouse, heirs, pre-nuptial > agreements, > addresses, dates, and the existence of a will. So, these inventories > were > required regardless of will. > - Relacao de Bens, this part contains the list of assets > - Conferencia de Interessados, this part contains information about > the meeting presided by the judge in which the heirs decide in agreement > the award of assets. If no agreement was reached, they started a process of > "licitacoes" which was some sort of bidding process of the assets. > - Mapa de Partilha, this part includes how each share of the assets > was assigned to each heir > - Sentenca, the judicial decision > > So, the most important piece of these inventories is the "statement(s) of > the head of household", which contains information on the couple, children, > including their spouses, with their ages. In addition, they include a death > certificate for the purposes of creating this inventory which contains more > information about the deceased including cause of death. > > Sources: > www.arquivos.azores.gov.pt/details?id=1040114 > https://geneall.net/pt/forum/159229/inventario-orfanologico/ > > Ruben > > - > - On Sunday, July 22, 2018 at 7:19:54 PM UTC-4, Cheri Mello wrote: > > While I was in Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel island, I made extensive use of >> the inventories or wills. I was able to find them on the Archives Catalog >> at http://www.arquivos.azores.gov.pt/ I don't know how to find them for >> other islands. I don't think the other archives entered them or perhaps the >> inventories or wills are not housed at the other archives. >> >> The inventories and wills varied a lot and from time period to time >> period. The more recent ones were better, as they were more organized and >> followed a format. >> >> They started with a cover page, naming the deceased and who was in charge >> of their inventory. Some had maybe 7 pieces of paper (so potentially 14 >> pages of information). Some had 144 pieces of paper (288 pages of >> information). The more "recent" ones (1920s forward) had a copy of the >> death certificate with the cause of death listed. Or the best that medicine >> knew for that time period. They named children, grandchildren, >> great-grandchildren if they had any. If you can read the births and >> marriages, then you already know the words of "filhos" and "netos." >> "Bisnetos" are the great-grandchildren. Some listed relatives on the >> paternal side "pelo lado paterno" or the maternal side "pelo lada materna," >> Anytime I saw the word "familia" I scanned the page. Some listed what I >> believe were people they owed. Some listed what they owned, as in the >> furnishings and whatnot. My 2 great-grandmother's had a declaration from >> her husband. I don't know what it says yet. I'm waiting on my cousin to >> tell me. And there was a lot of legal stuff in there too. >> >> The earliest will/inventory that I looked at was from 1807. Some exist >> from the 1700s. >> >> Not every ancestor will have an inventory or will. You didn't need to own >> property to have an will or inventory. As I said, it appeared that one guy >> owed a lot of people a lot of money. >> >> They allowed me to take pictures with my camera (found out I need a >> different pair of reading glasses to take pictures). They said that the >> inventories are NEVER to be posted anywhere on the Internet. That means >> Ancestry.com, Geni.com, My Heritage, FamilySearch.org, your own personal >> page, etc. They consider the inventories private Yes, I understand that if >> the person died in 1807, no one alive today was mentioned in that will. But >> they have their rules. I said it was going to be left on my computer so I >> could consult it. I would extract only genealogy information from the >> documents, but would never post an image of any them. So for those >> utilizing the inventories/wills, do NOT post them ANYWHERE on the Internet >> or you mess it up for future genealogists. >> >> Hopefully the other archives will get their inventories/wills up on the >> Archives Catalog. >> Cheri Mello >> Listowner, Azores-Gen >> Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, >> Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada >> > -- > 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 https://groups.google.com/group/azores. > -- 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 https://groups.google.com/group/azores.
