Looking For Goncalves and De Freitas Families in Madeira, Portugal
I am researching both sides of my family originally from Santa Cruz, Madeira, Portugal. The records are at a roadblock, and not sure how to get the church records in Santa Cruz, Madeira, Portugal. The graveyard there only keeps the gravesite for three to five years, then another person is buried on that spot. The church in the village would have records of births, marriages, and deaths. The records are written in Portuguese, and I am not sure if the records were scanned by any acestrial society.
My parent Jose and Maria (de Freitas) Goncalves (Gonsalves) immigrated at diffent times and I have those records. My mother was born in New Bedford, MA and my father in Santa Cruz, Madeira. My mother immigrated back to Madeira in 1928 with her parents (de Freitas) Agostinho and Maria. My grandfather's name was Manuel Goncalves and raised sugar cane, and my grandmother Maria was a housewife. My father is one of seven children. My mother is the oldest of three (Agostinho Jr. and Adelino de Freitas). Any assistance to obtain records from the church or mainland would be greatly appreciated.
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Re: Looking For Goncalves and De Freitas Families in Madeira, Portugal
Hi! I don't have any information for you but I had to say hello... I was born in Brazil and my name is Andre de Freitas Gonçalves! Both family names are very common in Brazil (if you google my full name you will find a few people, non of which is me) so I imagine they are common in Portugal and Madeira as well. But I wish you good luck on your quest! Ps.: I speak fluent Portuguese if you need anything translated...
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Re: Looking For Goncalves and De Freitas Families in Madeira, Portugal
Thank you for the information. I have spent the past two years attempting to get information from the church in Santa Cruz, Madeira. Nothing on my family as of this date. The only information has been from my parents and grandparents (mother). Unfortunately, the church documents have not appeared in the Lisbon research. Each parish reported to the mainland about the births, deaths, marriages, confirmations, etc. Hopefully, I will come across the information while I continue to update the recent information I have received recently. Bom Dia.
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Re: Looking For Goncalves and De Freitas Families in Madeira, Portugal
Bom dia! Keep us posted...
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Re: Looking For Goncalves and De Freitas Families in Madeira, Portugal
I'm looking for records on my family and they are from Madeira as well. I cannot find anything on my great-grandparents and beyond because these records are in Madeira,Portugal and I cant just go there and see because it would be a lot of money. I did come across something on the internet, Madeira has it's own geneolical society and it has a museum in Funchal that contains records. The website I found has Madeira church records but I can't remember if it has records from Santa Cruz. I will give you the adress to the website. I hope that it helps you.
My grandfathers name was Manuel Goncalves too, but I am from Camara de Lobos,Madeira. I live not to far from you. I'm from Taunton,Ma just 30 minutes North of New Bedford
by the way my Tia told me about how they keep the gravesite for just 5 years. do you know what they do with the bodies?
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Re: Looking For Goncalves and De Freitas Families in Madeira, Portugal
Lucy, Thank you for writing. I appreciate your effort. If you can send me the church records website, I would appreciated. My mother (de Freitas) and uncle was born in New Bedford, MA, and an aunt (Fernandes) from Fall River, MA. My mother's parents were Agostinho & Maria (Goncalves) de Freitas. My father's parents were Manuel & Maria Goncalves. The lineage is from the Sousa (Souza) branch of the family.
My first cousin Fernanda Goncalves married Crespin Camara in Santa Cruz in 1964, then moved to Cape Town, South Africa. I visited her this past Christmas and New Years holiday (2010-2011).
Yes, they dig up the grave site every 3-5 years, sift through the dirt, collect the bones, then cremated them. I am not sure how they dispose of the ashes.
Be safe, and take care...
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Re: Looking For Goncalves and De Freitas Families in Madeira, Portugal
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Re: Looking For Goncalves and De Freitas Families in Madeira, Portugal
http://www.arquivo-madeira.org/item1.php?lang=1&id_chann...Here you go, this is the Arquivo Regional da Madeira( Regional Archives of Madeira)website. Thank for telling me what they do with the bodies. I was very disturbed when my aunt told me that they remove the bodies after 5 years. It bothered me that I didn't know what they would do with them, whether they were thrown away like trash or who knows. Now I wonder where they would put the ashes since they are cremated.
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