Dear Prima Zelia, Thank you so much for answering our request for help with Greg's research in SA. I know that our own linking took the continual efforts of yourself and Philip, before the link to my family was made... and I thank you both for not giving up until that link had been established. Thank you my dear on-line Prima... Hugs to your mother. My dear mother would have been 110 years old this week if she were still alive. I miss her dearly, she too was a "fountain of information." I now wish I had "tapped into," but I didn't... Those of you that still have your parent/s alive, stay close to them, for it's a huge void in your life when they no long are with you... Ask those family history questions now, not when it's too late...I wish I had... Hugs, Prima Pat from California Life Is A Journey...Not A Guided Tour ----- Original Message ----- From: "Zelia Mullins" <zmullins@mweb.co.za> To: prt-madeira@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 1:16:42 AM Subject: [PT-MADEIRA] Testing/Martinho Hi to everyone on the list and a warm welcome to Greg. I have not contributed anything to the list for a long time but do get your regular communications and read them with interest and the hope that I will pick-up links with my family along the way. It is always exciting when I see that someone's family comes from Estreito da Calheta as both my parents originate from there and the chances of finding a link are so much more promising. Pat, Phillip and Leandro are all linked to my family through the Borrageiro line and I am hopeful that sometime in the future I will find links to my Afonso line as well. I have searched my family tree for the names Martinho and Catano but have not been able to find anything. Perhaps if Greg has the information, he should give us some of the other family names in his ancestry which may lead to uncovering more information and links. With regards searching Portuguese ancestry in South Africa, I have been very disappointed and have found much more information through the Arquivo da Madeira site and through people on this list. Unfortunately the South African archive site is not nearly as helpful and you don't get much response from e-mail correspondence. I have used the services of Anne Lemkuhl in the past with regards my husband's family (of Irish descent), and she proved very helpful and was able to assist me in tracking down records pertaining to his ancestors in South Africa. To Greg the only help I can offer at this stage is to question my mother, Angela de Jesus Borrageiro nee Afonso who is now 80 but she is a wealth of information and has a memory of note. She was born in Estreito da Calheta in 1930 and if you had family living there around that time I can almost guarantee that she will know who they are. Also the Portuguese Catholic Church in Benoni was a big gathering point for the Madeirences (excuse spelling) in the Johannesburg area and all of my siblings were baptised there so the chances are pretty good that she will know your family. I will give her a call later today and will let you know the outcome. Regards Zelia ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PRT-MADEIRA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message