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

Thank you Zelia. I totally agree that you really need someone to navigate the system in SA for you. I am a 'baptizee' of the Benoni church myself, although never a parishioner - but as you say that was the the central point of activity for the Madeira community. Janette On 17-Jul-11, at 1:16 AM, Zelia Mullins wrote: > 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