AZORES ISLANDS
THE DIGITAL COLLECTIONS
The CCA or Centro de Conhecimento dos Açores http://www.culturacores.azores.gov.pt
is the digital repository for most of the civil and ecclesiastical records from the nine islands that are part of the Azores archipelago.
If you need help translating or transcribing Portuguese records visit my Paleography page where I talk about Portuguese records and how translating and transcribing affects your research.
https://myportuguesegen.blogspot.com/p/books-and-documents-are-important.html
Azores Parish Records (Pesquisa de Registros Paroquiais)
For birth, marriage and death records from the Catholic Church, from 1541 until 1911, click here:
http://www.culturacores.azores.gov.pt/ig/registos/Default.aspx
Indexes for parish records
Indexes for different parishes in Pico, Corvo, Faial, São Jorge, and other regions in Portugal can be found in the link below from Citcem (Centro de Investigação Disciplinar), from Minho University.
http://www.ghp.ics.uminho.pt/genealogias.html
Passports (Pesquisa de Passaportes)
For passports from Terceira, Graciosa and São Jorge (since 1770) click on Angra do Heroismo;
For passports from Corvo, Pico, Faial and Flores (since 1836) click on Horta, and
For passports from São Miguel and Santa Maria click on Ponta Delgada.
http://www.culturacores.azores.gov.pt/ig/passaportes/Default.aspx
Indexes for a few Passport Registers in Azores
To facilitate finding your ancestor in the Passport Register, I have been organizing different Google searchable spreadsheets for each book, and based on the information provided by the two of the three main libraries, the one in Horta and the other in Ponta Delgada. Right now I was able to organize a few books that are listed below. If you do not see the book and the date you are looking for, you can always go to the Archeevo website, which hosts a partial Azores database and check their list. The two links will take you to the Archeevo database.
Ponta Delgada: https://arquivos.azores.gov.pt/details?id=1076970
Horta: https://arquivos.azores.gov.pt/details?id=1220924
Passport indexes:
Horta, Faial: 1839 to 1950:
Passport Register Index - 1839-1850 - Horta
Horta, Faial: 1850 to 1956:
Passaport Register Index - 1950 - 1956 - Horta
Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island: 10 May 1875 to 16 Nov 1883:
Passport Register Index - 1875-1883 - PD
Finding a passport request date is key in your research as it provides a close time frame to the departure of your ancestor from the Azores, and his arrival in the destination country. After August 1927 passports were required by law to contain a photo identification.
If you have ancestors from São Miguel, or Santa Maria islands, it is most certain that your ancestor requested the passport in Ponta Delgada.
THE PHYSICAL COLLECTIONS
“Each Azorean Island is organized into one or more administrative districts, each being divided into parishes, known by their administrative name or by their patron saint….The original documents lie in the Public Libraries and Regional Archives of the Azores, in Ponta Delgada (S. Miguel), Angra do Heroísmo (Terceira) and Horta (Faial).”
Terceira, Graciosa and São Jorge Islands - Angra do Heroísmo administrative region.
Genealogy São Jorge Island
Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Regional Luis da Silva Ribeiro
Rua do Morrão, 42 - 9700-054 Angra do Heroísmo
Telefone: (+351) 295 401 000Fax: (+351) 295 401 009
email: bparah.arquivo@azores.gov.pt
- Angra Archive
https://bparlsr.azores.gov.pt/arquivo_regional/
- Genealogical resources:
https://bparlsr.azores.gov.pt/categorias_ar/colecoes/fontes-genealogicas/
- Information on how to request copy of records
https://bparlsr.azores.gov.pt/1583-2/
- Angra do Heroismo Digital Library
https://bparlsr.azores.gov.pt/arquivo_regional/
Santa Maria and São Miguel Islands - Ponta Delgada administrative region.
Genealogy São Miguel
Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Regional de Ponta Delgada
São Miguel and Santa Maria Islands
Largo do Colégio s/n - 9500-054 Ponta Delgada
Phone: (+351) 296 305 040 Fax (+351) 296 281 216
email: bpar.pdelgada.info@azores.gov.pt
Information on how to request a copy of records:
https://bparpd.azores.gov.pt/a_biblioteca/pedido-de-certidao/
Faial, Pico, Flores and Corvo Islands - Horta administrative region
Biblioteca Pública Arquivo Regional João José da Graça - Horta
Faial, Pico, Flores and Corvo Islands
Rua Walter Bensaúde, 14 - 9900-142 Horta
Phone: (+351) 292 208190 Fax: (+351) 292 208199
email: bpar.horta.info@azores.gov.pt
website: http://bibliotecajoaojosegraca.pai.pt/
Núcleo Cultural da Horta, Faial
Rua Eduardo Bulcão, s/n, 9900-116 HORTA
Other digital resources for researching Azores and Portugal records:
Genealogia FB
This is one of the best resources you will find about Portugal genealogy and history. It is not in English, but offers tons of indexes for both Portugal and Azores. It grows every day and it does not require any registration to access the indexes. All the work is developed by historians and family researchers volunteers, including myself, and is available for FREE.
http://genealogiafb.blogspot.pt/
Family Search
Family Search website with links to Portugal Historic Archives.
https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Azores,_Portugal_Genealogy
Repositório Histórico
Portuguese Archives available online
http://www.repositoriohistorico.pt/
Tombo.pt
Portugal and Azores districts and parishes archives in a easy way to access the historical records.
Historical Atlas and Parishes
Website where you can re-create the parishes and historical territorial division in Portugal and Azores. If you want to locate the parish or religious division in Portugal and Azores, give a try on this tool, it is very useful. Maximize parts of the map to have smaller divisions and more detail.
http://atlas.fcsh.unl.pt/cartoweb35/atlas.php?lang=pt
PORTUGAL MAINLAND
Online archives from Torre do Tombo, Lisbon, Portugal
Torre do Tombo is the Portuguese National Archives.
Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo
Alameda da Universidade
1649-010 Lisbon, Portugal
Projeto GERMIL
Military records
https://ahm-germil.exercito.pt/
Diário do Governo and other newspapers
https://digigov.cepese.pt/en/homepage
Emigration - Portugal to Brazil
http://www.remessas.cepese.pt/remessas/
Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino
Archives from the Ministério Ultramar
http://arquivos.ministerioultramar.holos.pt/source/presentation/pag.php?pag=0
Hi Isabella,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the helpful links! Thank you also for the info on your family,I checked my gr.grandfather's passenger list which says he was born in S Mathews, which I believe is São Mateus.
Charlene
Charlene,
DeleteSao Mateus is in Pico Island, I will post more information on researching on the other islands soon and will let you know.
Isabella
There is also São Mateus da Calheta in Terceira Island. You will need to know from which island he came from. I think on the passenger list you will be able to see it or in his passport. The Godfather of my 2nd great grandmother was one Francisco Machado from Cabo da Praia, in Terceira.
DeleteThanks so much for these links!
ReplyDeleteHi Jana,
DeleteHope they will be useful for you and everybody that comes here!
Just wanted to let you know that your post is listed on today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2012/10/follow-fridayfab-finds-for-october-12.html
DeleteThank you very much Jana! I will check it later. :-)
DeleteIsabella:
ReplyDeleteYou are obviously quite an accomplished researcher. Therefore I am surprised that in your June 13 posting to the AZORES-Genealogy Board you gave such a incomplete citation of "Santos et al. in Origin of Peopling in the Azores". Not very helpful for someone wishing to see the book/article.
I would like to see this source, if you will be kind enough to provide the complete citation.
Thanks,
Denis
d.meals@sbcglobal.net
Denis,
DeleteThank you for visiting my blog.
Regarding your comment on my "incomplete citation" on the Azores-Genealogy Board, I want to make some considerations, the obvious one is that the Board is an informal conversation between members and sometimes I just make a comment using my iPhone and that was the case; if I want further information on a message, I just send a private message or post on the same Board asking for it. I will reply on the Board for your question.
I always provide complete source information on my blog and on any work I do. I'm pro Open Source, thus I have a blog.
Hi, I've traced my ancestors back to the island of Pico. I'm not sure how to proceed. Is it possible to research them further without traveling to Pico? Cheers, Dave
ReplyDeleteDave,
DeleteThanks for visiting my blog. Yes, you can research on Pico Island visiting the last link on Research on Azores and Portugal, another window will open and you will see Pico Island with its 3 concelhos and links to other pages with their genealogy. Its not very clear where to click on the genealogy pages, but at the bottom you will see an arrow and "Clique aqui para aceder às Genealogia". From there you can choose the English language. Hope this will help, let me know.
Isabella
Which one should I use to find a long lost uncle. During the war my grandfather fell in love with an azorean woman they produced a child. Who has my grandfathers name laurindo Ferreira. I know he had ten children but that is all I know would love to find them. I feel there is an uncle and cousins out there I need to meet. Can you help me who should I talk to. Sincerely Christine Francisco Please feel free to email me at chrissiefrancisco@gmail.com. My uncle should been born in the 1940's
ReplyDeleteHi Christine, thanks for visiting my blog on Portuguese and Brazilian genealogy. I sent an email to you about one week ago but I dont know if you received it or not. Please let me know if you want me to send it again. Looking forward hearing from you. Happy new year!
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to find out more about the family of my great, great grandfather Antonio Pimental, the story is that he was a whaler out of New Bedford, Mass but originating in the Azores, I had no idea which island until I took the ancestry.com DNA test and connected with distant cousins whose information says Fazenda das lajes, Flores, Azores; however, when I tried to choose the area for the parish records I wanted to search for his baptism on the government genealogy site there was NO Fazenda, but there was a "Fajazinha" do my cousins have a spelling error or are these 2 different locations?
Thanks! Maria
Hi Maria,
DeleteThere is no spelling error. Fazenda belongs to Lajes and you will find Lajes under Lajes das Flores on CCA. Good luck on your search.
Isabella
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteDear Isabella,
ReplyDeleteMy great-grandfather, Alexander Souza Borba, was born on São Jorge in 1883, and I don't have a date or know who his parents were. He immigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area, and lived both in Sausalito and in Oakland. Do you have any tips for how to research when he might have immigrated to the US, or anything else?
Thank you!
- Eric
Good morning Eric,
DeleteYou will find requests for passports in CCA website. As he was from São Jorge, I believe his passport was requested in Angra do Heroismo, the link for the digital passport requests is http://www.culturacores.azores.gov.pt/ig/passaportes/Default.aspx
On the dropbox named Núcleos, you choose Angra do Heroismo. A new window will open with date frames for you to choose. If he was travelling alone, you will see his name there. Let me know if you were able to find him. Isabella
Dear Isabella,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for you helpful website. Using the link you provided I easily found information on my grandfather who was born in Pico. While searching for my grandmother I noticed something and started looking at some families that are not related to me. Maybe I am looking at the names incorrectly or not understanding how the names are listed. Do the Portuguese in the Azores sometimes give their children a surname that is different than the surname of the father?
Thank you.
Keith
Keith,
DeleteYou are most welcome! I am glad the links I provided are being useful for your research. Regarding the name of your grandmother, usually women don't carry the family name, they carry a devotional name most of the time, although this is not a rule. There are times they will carry the family name if the family was wealthy or prominent in a certain way. You are probably not looking incorrectly. If you want to send the record I can quickly look at it and let you know. Thank you for visiting my blog! Isabella
Hi Isabella,
ReplyDeleteI'm taking a huge step and traveling to Portugal as I've had no luck finding anything more specific than Portugal as the place of birth for my 2nd gg. Family members believe he was born in the Azores, but I can't find anything! His parents aren't listed on his death certificate.
At any rate, where can I go in Portugal to do my research?
Hi "unknown", researching in Portugal or Azores without knowing at least the region or municipality of your ancestor is almost impossible. You will need a start point. If your ancestor came to USA you will probably find resources other than a death certificate, which usually do not have the parents name. Did you search the Census? Marriage certificate? Immigration records? Let me know if you need more information sending a private email to myportuguesegen at Gmail dot com
DeleteThank you for visiting my blog.
HI Can someone interpret what the passport headings say in the Centro de Conhecimento dos Acores?
ReplyDeleteYes, I can do that for you. Please send a private message to
DeleteMyportuguesegen @ Gmail dot com
Hi Isabella,
ReplyDeleteHow can i find my grand parents birth records? They were born in 1926 on Sao Miguel but I dont have exact dates. Thank you!
Hi Daniela,
DeleteIf they were born around 1926, their birth certificate will be on a "Conservatória de Registro Civil". The Conservatórias, they are many, are now in the digital age, but I do not know if they will be able to find their record without any information other than their names. Do you know at least the parish? I do know people in the Azores that may request this for you, I believe, I am not sure. Send me an email and we can go from there. myportuguesegen at gmail dot com
Hello Isabella,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the links. They have helped.
I actually found the record for my grand mother's baptism. Next to it, I see a record of her mariage date to my grandfather.
Now since they got married in 1928, which records should I look into to find the actual mariage?
I speak Portuguese but I have a hard time reading those records.
Thank you
Isabel
Isabel, you do not mention the parish you find grandmother baptism, but usually the marriage is in the same parish of the baptism of the bride. There is a link for the marriages, on the same area you found the baptisms. If you have any difficulty in finding it, just send me an email to myportuguesegen at gmail dot com
DeleteHello. I am so happy to find this site but so far I'm not having any luck finding my ancestor. His name was Francis Joseph Silva and I believe he traveled from the Azores to America in 1872 according to the census. He lived his life in Massachusetts. He was born in 1850-1852 but I'm not sure what island. One document lists his parents as Antone Silva and Josephine. If you could point me in the right direction that would be great!
ReplyDeleteSiobhan,
ReplyDeleteYou will need to find other documents if the Census does not mention the island he belonged. I would suggest trying to find a marriage record for him. It may mention the island he was born. On the other side, if you know the arrival year in US, the passport requests from Azores are online on CCA website, as I mention above on resources. Usually they were requested just a few months before the departure. Let me know if you need more information sending a private email to myportuguesegen at Gmail dot com, good luck!
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Hello. I too am happy to find this site. I am coming to Portugal in two weeks. For a long time I've been trying to find where my great grandfather came from. I believe he left the island of Sao Miguel on a whaling ship. He and his cousin jumped ship in New Zealand. He met my grandmother and lived in NZ until his death. His name was Jacintho St Clare DeAlmeida. Any help advice or tips would be greatly appreciated . I would dearly love to visit the Azores and see where he came from.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words. I am glad you found the information useful. If you need any further assistance, or if you have any questions, I will gladly answer to you. Just send me and email to myportuguesegen at gmail dot com. You have a great day,
DeleteThis is a pretty amazing site. I am researching my great grandfather's records since my mother already has my grandfather's records from Agua de Pau. It is part of my journey back to Portugal as I am planning to retire to Braga next year. Muito Obrigado :)
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome and thank you for your comments. If you need any help let me know, I will be glad to do it. De nada!
DeleteBoa tarde, Isabella!
ReplyDeleteMeu nome é Rogério Teixeira Luz e descendo de Luiza Francisca da Luz, cujo tio Padre José Dutra da Luz fixou-se em Cristina, Sul de Minas Gerais/Brasil, por volta de 1775. O Padre trouxe dos Açores, da Ilha do Pico, seus 2 sobrinhos, Luiza Francisca da Luz (casada a contragosto de seus pais com Antonio Joaquim de Oliveira), e Matheus Antônio da Luz. Pelo que pude apurar, vieram de Santo Antonio e São Roque do Pico, na Ilha do Pico. Gostaria de saber a relação dos mesmos com Manoel Rodrigues da Luz, do local chamado Madalena, na Ilha do Pico, porém este Manoel não foi para Minas Gerais e sim para Florianópolis, em Santa Catarina/Brasil, de quem descende Hercilio Pedro da Luz. Será que você poderia me ajudar de alguma forma ?
Agradeço-lhe desde já!
Rogério, desculpa tanta demora em lhe responder. Você já pesquisou os arquivos eclesiasticos da Ilha do Pico? Para poder descobrir a ligação entre as duas famílias, você irá precisar construir a linhagem da família Luz, tanto do lado da família que foi para Minas, como daquela que foi para Santa Catarina. Você pode me enviar um email e eu lhe passo o caminho das pedras, caso tenha dificuldade em encontrar o link. Não tem do que agradecer, estou aqui para ajudar, quando tenho oportunidade. Aguardo seu contato.
DeleteLooking for help in how to check real property ownership records in Graciosa Azores Islands. Is there a website that will provide current ownership and past ownership of parcels of land or a home?
ReplyDeleteHello, I am trying to research a member of the Machado family in Terceira in the 16th century. Can you advise us? Thank you in advance.
ReplyDeleteHello Doug, thank you for visiting my blog. In regards to your question, where your family is located in Terceira, I mean, the earliest parish where your Machado line is from? Only a few parishes have ecclesiastical records from the time frame you are looking for. On the other side, there are a few genealogical manuscripts from the period that mention the Machado family. Fenix Angrense is one of them, it is on line, the page for the Machado family starts here: http://www.culturacores.azores.gov.pt/biblioteca_digital/FENIXANGRENSE-PARTEGENEALOGICA/FENIXANGRENSE-PARTEGENEALOGICA_item1/P266.html
DeleteLet me know if you are looking for something different from what I just suggested. Thank you again, Isabella.
Dear Isabella,
ReplyDeleteSearching for more of those elusive Azorean whalers who ended up in Rhode Island and Mass. A question I have is-- if they were making a living as sailors (either on whalers or packet ships), would they need a passport? We also believe that the family went back and forth to the Azores, and some children were born in America and some were born to the same couple in the Azores. Would these wives and children need passports?
We stumbled upon the Whaling Museum and it sparked my husbands interest in his mothers family history, of course all the older folk are gone, and she would never talk about it, most of what I know is from a very long ago conversation with one of her relatives & my own research here. I have been able to track down & verify enough info to proceed here, and was even able to locate a trove of pictures (the ones my mother in law claimed did not exist!!) after she died, including finding & visiting some graves. But the Azores is a new challenge!! My husband just TODAY received his DNA resus which confirmed a 48% Azores gene pool, so this should be a fun new adventure!!
Thanks in advance for any direction you can point us in, jaiq
Hello, thank you for visiting my blog. You did not mention the time frame you are looking for passports, but I can tell you that when a family was traveling, the head of the family, or wife in case the husband already left, only the him, or her, was listed under one passport number. The children were added by name and age but did not have a passport. In regards to the whalers/fisherman, I do not think they had a passport, I have to investigate more, unless they were moving to the USA. All the rules were subject, as they are today, to the USA Border control. The Border control became more restrictive to immigration by the middle of 1920's. You can check my blog post about New England with several resources: https://myportuguesegen.blogspot.com/2021/06/research-in-new-england.html
DeleteHi Isabella, I had to drop a note when I saw we share last names. My paternal grandfather, Ramon Baltar Suarez, emigrated from Galicia to Gloucester, MA about 1900. He married a teenage Portuguese girl, Rosa (my grandmother). She was born in Gloucester in 1890 but her parents were from the Azores. Her parents were Francisco Silva and Maria Silva, nee Fernance; Maria's father was Pedro Fernance but I know nothing but the name. Maria and Frank were from the Azores, but I don't know which island. Anyway, I run into a dead end tracing the family earlier than about 1890 in Gloucester. There are a lot of Frank and Mary Silvas, and family lore says they went back and forth between California and Gloucester. Fernance is more unusual but I can find no immigration records in that name. (I'm using ancestry.com). Any idea how to trace people back to a particular place in the Azores? (I was able to get a lot of information about Baltars in Spain, btw, but I hired someone.) - Bruce Baltar
ReplyDeleteHi Bruce, great to hear from you and your family story. My earliest Baltar moved from Portugal to Brazil in the middle of 1810, his name was João Antonio Ferreira Baltar. The family kept the Ferreira Baltar surnames for a century in Brazil. I have the marriage record of his first son, my ancestor, and he is mentioned as being from Portugal. Unfortunately, the priest was not very detailed and did not mention the region from where he was from. I believe they are from the North of Portugal, maybe Galicia as you mentioned. Did you do your DNA? I have my done mine in different companies, including Ancestry, and if we are connect, we might find a connection through it.
DeleteIn regards to researching family in Azores, you will need to find a record, such as marriage or immigration/naturalization, where the location from where your ancestor was from is mentioned. Fernance is not a surname in Azores and Portugal, it might be Fernandes. Silva is a common surname in Azores and Portugal. Let me know if you need any specific help towards this branch of your family.
Isabella
Thank you for your response. Yes, I've done some research on Baltar and although not common anywhere it seems to originate in Galicia and Northern Portugal; there is a village in southern Galicia about 3 miles from Portugal named Baltar. Anyway, I suspect Fernance is Anglicized but it does appear several times in source documents of my Great-grandmother and her family (and a few others) in Gloucester in that era, and they are all listed as from the Azores in the US Census. I recall seeing it with a diacritical mark on the "c" in at least one record. Sadly, I have not tied any of them to specific immigration records and the marriage records I've found are only from this country and don't specify the place of birth. Hmmm. I'll check the Ancestry dna relatives; if we are related its very remote!
DeleteLooking for help in how to check real property ownership records in Sao MIguel Azores Islands. Is there a website that will provide current ownership and past ownership of parcels of land or a home where I can search by name or year of sale?
ReplyDelete