Curious thing about Portuguese surnames. They are inconsistent at best and downright frustrating most of the time. Surname research is out of the question because you can’t depend on any consistency. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Josefa de Mello’s surname turned out to be completely different than the name on her son’s marriage record….
Tag: Povoacao
This may be why I can’t find the marriage
This weekend I decided to redo the work another researcher did for me on Francisco de Medeiros and Josefa de Mello. The town of Maia isn’t on the Azores Archives website yet, so I thought Povoacao was as good as any place to research. I found their son, Joao de Mello’s, baptismal record first. Then,…
Surname Saturday: de Mello of Maia and Povoacao
I’m back with another installment of Surname Saturday. This week will focus on the de Mello’s of Maia, Ribeira Grande, Sao Miguel Island, Azores. The de Mello’s are one the few families in my tree from the town of Maia who didn’t stay put. The de Mello’s were originally from Povoacao. My Great Great Grandmother,…