Just a bit of information I learned while viewing various records... there are often marriage records mixed in with the baptism records. These marriages are often NOT listed in the index on the archives website. As in the case of one record I remember seeing- the baptism of a baby took place on the same day as the marriage of the baby's parents. Another had the baptism of one of the adults taking place on the same day as their marriage. I read EVERY record on the films. So far I have had to look at records from Machico, Gaula, Canical and Aqua de Pena to find my various ancestors (on the side of my father's mother). I know I also need to look at Canico and possibly Santa Cruz. This could easily become a full time job. :-) As for my father's father's family.. that is a whole other part of Madeira. Jose: Have you looked for variations on the names used by Jorge and Isabel? For example- some of my ancestors used different names at different points in time. That is the cause of much hair pulling for me! Often when viewing children's and grandchildren's baptism and marriage records, I have come across variations on the names such as Francisco Goncalves also called Francisco do Nascimento on some of his grandchildren's records. Doesn't it make you want to scream? :-) Mary

Thank Mary for sharing your experience. I think it is of importance to many members of this list. I was not aware that marriages in the baptism books were often not listed in the Madeira Archives. Do other listers have a similar experience? In Caniço we have mixed records. In response to your earlier query on the variations of name, I have tried different combinations and it doesn't seem to work. At this moment I know that Jorge gave Dias as a surname to one of his oldest sons who married in 1662. He gave Fernandes to my ancestor who married in 1687. I suspect that Inacio was his youngest son. I don't know if there are other sons in between. I am looking into it. But in both certificates it shows parents as Jorge Dias and Isabel Fernandes and it seems they were alive at the time. For the moment I am screaming, because I don't have a reason for the name change, other than speculation. Besides I was a Fernandes for 400 years and now I am a Dias! Well, that does it! Nothing negative about all the Dias in the world, I just can't get my head around the name change. Have a nice day. José Fernandes or Dias or.... -----Original Message----- From: prt-madeira-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:prt-madeira-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Mary Frost Sent: May 28, 2007 11:12 PM To: PRT-MADEIRA-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [PT-MADEIRA] lost marriage records Just a bit of information I learned while viewing various records... there are often marriage records mixed in with the baptism records. These marriages are often NOT listed in the index on the archives website. As in the case of one record I remember seeing- the baptism of a baby took place on the same day as the marriage of the baby's parents. Another had the baptism of one of the adults taking place on the same day as their marriage. I read EVERY record on the films. So far I have had to look at records from Machico, Gaula, Canical and Aqua de Pena to find my various ancestors (on the side of my father's mother). I know I also need to look at Canico and possibly Santa Cruz. This could easily become a full time job. :-) As for my father's father's family.. that is a whole other part of Madeira. Jose: Have you looked for variations on the names used by Jorge and Isabel? For example- some of my ancestors used different names at different points in time. That is the cause of much hair pulling for me! Often when viewing children's and grandchildren's baptism and marriage records, I have come across variations on the names such as Francisco Goncalves also called Francisco do Nascimento on some of his grandchildren's records. Doesn't it make you want to scream? :-) Mary ------------------------------- 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