Posted from email message of Rui Pereira, Portugal:

In my Sephardic ancestry I have the Pereira surname: José Lopez de Rivera, born c. 1661 in Marchena (Spain), married to
Beatriz Lopez Pereira, born in Guiñón (Spain). They are parents of Leonor Rodriguez, born August 1686 in Granada (Spain).

Beatriz Lopez Pereira's parents were Manuel Pereira and Leonor Lopez, and that's as far as I could go up to now.

These Lopez Pereira should be related to a Sephardic merchant named Moses Lopez Pereira (1699-1759), who lived in Portugal and then moved to Austria where he was made a Baron (Baron d'Aguilar) in 1726

In Austria- I understand through my family folklore that Moses Lopez Pierra Aguilar- Later Baron d'Aguilar -
had family in Austria- d'Agulilar was related to Weiner Family— Abraham Weiner b. 1820? - my sephardic ancestry.
I understand Moses may have presented himself as a Catholic- however- later in Vienna announced he was Jewish. Baron d'Aguilar moved to England 1740's - Any info?
Regards
Bill Teitelbaum

Dear Bill,

Thank you for your message. Your data agree with the information I have. The 1st Baron d'Aguilar moved to England after living in Austria for many years. Here is what I know.

A page on Jewish heraldry states that
"Moses Lopez Pereira (1699-1759) a Marrano from Spain, reverted to Judaism in Vienna, was made baron d'Aguilar in 1726, later moved to London"

"From Spain".Yet, he appears as Portuguese a in an article I read on Portuguese Jews. They call him "Moisés Lopes Pereira" - that is the exact translation to Portuguese - and say he was a tobacco merchant.

There was a 2nd Baron d'Aguilar, Ephraim Lopez Pereira (1739-1802), who was the 1st Baron's son. Some web pages show his name as "Ephraim Lopes Pereira". He lived in England. There is a genealogy website that shows many of his descendants.

It is quite a coincidence that among my ancestors I find a Jewish woman named Beatriz Lopez Pereira, born circa 1665 in Spain, who had at least three children, all born before she crossed the border to Portugal with her husband. One of those was my ancestor Leonor Rodriguez, who was born in 1686 and married a Jewish tobacco merchant. The others were Dr. Miguel Lopez Pereira, born circa 1693, who married the daughter of a Jewish tobacco merchant, and Francisca Lopez Pereira who was still unmarried in 1721. Of course, the children's surname appears in documents as Lopes instead of Lopez since they lived in Portugal.

Moses Lopez Pereira may have changed his name when he reverted to Judaism, since Moses doesn't look like a Christian name at all. I have searched for information on his ancestry, but found nothing up to now. I think there is a good chance Beatriz Lopez Pereira was his aunt or even his mother.

Greetings from Portugal,

Rui Pereira

Rui— Many thanks for the information- I'll begin searching the names you supplied— I know through my family's folklore and word of mouth that Baron d'Aguilar (Moses) had been posing as a catholic priest. During that time, Spain had much gold from the New World and it was in demand from Austria to help its war efforts. Maria Theresa archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary and Bohemia knew the secret double life of Baron d'Aguilar and threaten to expose his real identity and religion. Moses Aguilar went into hiding. He was skilled in the art of manufacturing cherry brandy and wines for religious purposes - he had a temporary name change to "Weiner" as was common for people of those days to take on the name of their trade—(That is where my family name was derived— my Austrian family was in the wholesale glass and porcelain business which was used for wine bottles and decoration.) Moses Aguilar may have received a pardon from Joseph II Holy Roman emperor and son of Maria Theresa. It is noted that Joseph II had granted religious toleration to Protestants and ended discriminatory laws against Jews. Baron d'Aguilar then moved to England around 1741-2?
In a will that was discovered around 1910? in England he makes mention of the Aguilar and Weiner family names.
Regards- Bill

Dear Bill,

The information you give is very interesting. I had read somewhere Moses Lopez Pereira moved to England because of the increasing Portuguese pressure on Austrian authorities for his extradiction after he admitted to be a Jew.

The date usually given for his birth makes me believe there is a chance of finding more on his family. Whoever knew he was born in the year 1699 probably knew who his parents were also. I also don't know where his title's name "Aguilar" came from. Perhaps it was one of his family's surnames. In my Lopez Pereira relatives I haven't found any Aguilar up to now.

The Baron's will could be very important for my research, do you know how I could get a copy of the text?

Regards,

Rui Pereira

Rui- I will begin reserach on the Baron d'Aguilar title and get back to you. Thanks for your help. Bill

Hi my name i Faith, my g-gfather was a D'AGUILAR. In my search i found a ISSAC PEREIRA BRANDON d. 5 MAR 1740, aged 73. Also RACHEL FERNANDES PEREIRA, d. 23 MAY 1833, aged 66. Both are buried in KINGSTON, JAMAICA. I don't know if the two were related, there were from spain. hope this helps.

Dear Faith,

Thank you for your information. Unfortunately, I don't have information on the people you mention.

Recent progress in my research allowed me to establish that the Rodriguez Rivera from Rhode Island were a branch of my own Rivera family (Spanish, and closely related to the Lopez Pereira). On the other hand, the Rodriguez Rivera had business in Jamaica. So there might be some kind of connection.

Best regards,

Rui Pereira

RUI, do you know why anyone w/the name LOPES-PEREIRA was changed to D'AGUILAR? and what website are you referring to for info on 2ND baron? i'm a D'AGUILAR. the 1ST barons name was also Diego, do you know if his mother was esther demanuel lopes-pereira or rachel deaguilar?

Dear Faith,

Unfortunately, I have no information on the people you mention.

You can find genealogical information on Moses's son Ephraim Lopez Pereira at Paul & Emma Street's page:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~streetpm/All/index....

Ephraim is here:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~streetpm/All/dat205...
Follow the links for his daughters to find more descendants.

Best regards,

Rui Pereira