Genealogy Research in Portugal & Brazil

1. Genealogy Research in Portugal & Brazil Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World Ana Ghia-Pereira Ottawa Stake Family History Center May 26, 2007

2. Vital Records in Portugal • Council of Trent (1564) mandates that priests keep a records of all baptisms, marriages and deaths in the parish • Until 1911 records are kept by the Church • After 1911 all records become the responsibility of Civil registration Offices • Records are not indexed Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

3. Vital Records in Portugal (cont.) • Access • Access to Portuguese vital records is not restricted. • Current records can be obtained, by anyone, for a fee. • Can be requested online • Where from? • Civil Registry Offices • Records from 1912 until today • National Archives and District Archives • Records prior to 1911 Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

4. Information contained in VitalRecords • Baptism: • Name, date and parish of birth and baptism, names of parents, grandparents and godparents and where they’re from • Marriage: • Name, date and parish of marriage, names and ages of bride and groom, names of parents and godparents and where they’re from. • Death: • Name, date and parish where death occurred, name and age of deceased, status, name of husband/wife if known, cause of death. Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

5. Requesting vital records • Archives • Books with last record at least 90 years old • You can check the records yourself • About 80% available in microfilm • It is faster if parish is known • Photocopies provided at very low cost • Civil Registry Offices • Records from 1912 to today • You have to request a certificate • Expensive: about $25 per certificate • You must know the parish and the year Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

6. Requests Online • Certidões Online • http://www.portaldocidadao.pt/PORTAL/pt/certidoes_online/ • Need to provide: • Name • Date or at least year of birth, marriage, death • Parish where it happened • Parents names, if known • Cost Eu$16.65 (about $25) • Very fast turnaround • Make sure you ask for a “cópia integral” (full copy) and in the comments ask for a photocopy of the record, otherwise the transcription will not include all data Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

7. Birth certificate (recent) Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

8. Birth record (from microfilm) Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

9. Research Online - Portugal • Gene Web Roglo • http://geneweb.inria.fr/roglo?lang=en • A database of 2 million persons. Contains trees from all over Europe. Many well known Portuguese genealogists contributed info. • Braga District Archive • http://www.adb.uminho.pt/index.htm • Searchable database on the contents of 37,800 records of seminarians. Dates: 1620-1910. Name of person, parentage; where from and references to other processes. • Porto District Archive • http://www.adporto.org/ • In collaboration with the Genealogical society of Utah, making available online images of parish records. • NEPS (University of Minho, Portugal) • http://www.neps.ics.uminho.pt/index.html • Several databases from various parishes in the north of Portugal.Not intuitive to use. Uses rolo software but leading pages are in Portuguese. Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

10. Useful Links - Portugal • Portuguese National Archives (Torre do Tombo) • http://www.iantt.pt/index.html • All records pertaining to Portuguese royal house, title grants, inquisition, etc. Records date from the creation of Portugal, around 1128. • GeneaPortugal • http://genealogia.netopia.pt/home/ • Portuguese genealogy site. Includes published trees, photos, and a forum. Cost: $30 per year • Cindy’s List • http://www.cyndislist.com/portugal.htm • 148 links to excellent sites, mostly in English • Portuguese Genealogist Masterlist • http://www.dholmes.com/master-l.html • People put their contact information and the names they are researching to find others doing the same Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

11. Useful Links - Portugal • Associação Online de Autores de Genealogia em Portugês • http://pwp.netcabo.pt/0437301501/gene/links.htm • Excellent page of links for sites of genealogical importance for the Portuguese genealogist. Includes English sites. • Portuguese Mailing Lists on Rootsweb • http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/PRT/ • Portugal, Madeira Exiles (Portuguese Presbyterian exiles from Madeira who emigrated to Trinidad and Illinois), Azores, Azores-DNA, Portuguese-Nobility, and PRT-Madeira • LusaWeb • http://www.lusaweb.com/ • Very useful site, dedicated to Americans from Portuguese descent. Cost: US$25 per year. Cannot do much unless a member • Short Portuguese Lessons • http://alfarrabio.di.uminho.pt/spl/ • From the University of Minho Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

12. Vital Records in Brazil • Vital record kept by the Church, start in 1616 • Civil Registration starts in big cities around 1863 • After 1888 all records officially become the responsibility of Civil registration Offices (Ofício do Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais) • Records are notindexed Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

13. Vital Records in Brazil (cont.) • Access • Access to Brazilian vital records is not restricted. • Current records can be obtained, by anyone, for a fee. • Can be requested online • Where from? • Family Search • http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp • Available for purchase online • http://www.cartoriobrasileiro.com.br/ Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

14. Information contained in VitalRecords • Baptism: • Name, date and parish of birth and baptism, names of parents, grandparents and godparents and where they’re from • Marriage: • Name, date and parish of marriage, names and ages of bride and groom, names of parents and godparents and where they’re from. • Death: • Name, date and parish where death occurred, name and age of deceased, status, name of husband/wife if known, cause of death. Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

15. Where in Brazil? • Church records from 1616 to 1940’s • Civil registration from 1863 to 2005 • Mostly in eastern states • Not many records from the states in the interior (Amazonia, Acre, Mato Grosso, etc.) • Available in microfilm from Family History Library • Births until about 1950’s • Marriages until about 1960’s • Deaths until 2005 Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

16. Birth record (from microfilm) Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

17. Death certificate Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

18. Research online - Brazil • Surname Navigator – Brazil • http://www.kuijsten.de/navigator/brazil/ • Excellent link. Searches all of LDS databases from Brazil, Geneanet, Genforum Brazil, Rootsweb, and the Brazilian White pages • Projeto Imigrantes • http://www.projetoimigrantes.com.br/ • Database with almost 3 million names of immigrants arrived since 1737. Expensive! R50. (about $27) for a listing of surname researched • Cartório Brasileiro • http://www.cartoriobrasileiro.com.br/ • Online service for the request of birth, marriage, and death certificates. It uses electronic translation services. Costs vary depending on where is the certificate from. Between $30 and $40 per certificate. • Payment via international money order. Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

19. Useful Links - Brasil • Genealogias.org • http://www.genealogias.org/ • Lots of useful info. Contains several databases and articles by Brazilian genealogists. Links to genealogical societies in Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná • Brazil Genweb • http://www.rootsweb.com/~brawgw • Lbase with almost 3 million names of immigrants arrived since 1737 • Brazil Research Outline • http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/rg/frameset_rg.asp?Dest=G1&Guide=Brazil.asp • From the Family History Library, a 37-page downloadable PDF document Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

20. The Future • Immigrant Ancestors Project • http://immigrants.byu.edu/ • Sponsored by the Center for Family History and Genealogy at Brigham Young University • Uses emigration registers to locate information about the birthplaces of immigrants, usually not found in port registers and naturalization documents. • Data transcribed by volunteers across the globe, available on the web Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

21. The Future (cont.) • Scanstone Project • Conversion of microfilm images into digital images. Fully indexed. • Depending on the laws of the country of origin, some images might be available on the web. • Presently doing US, Canada, British Isles and Wales. Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

22. The Future (cont.) • University of Porto • In collaboration with the Genealogical Society of Utah, bringing into the web the images of parish records. Fully indexed. • Expect to scan and make available on the web all the parish records in the Porto District (416 parishes) • Already in progress. No completion date given. Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

23. The Future (cont.) • University of Coimbra • Project to scan and make available on the web more than a million records of births or marriages, among others documents from 1459 until now. • 13,000 parish books of births, marriages, and deaths • 21,000 land and property documents, wills and probate records • Project will cost 30,000 euros and is funded by the Portuguese Ministry of Science and Technology. • Expected completion by mid-2008. Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World

24. Questions? Climbing Your Family Tree Around the World