Mr. Fernandes, I have run into the exact situations that you describe, it is what has made the search for my ancestors both fun and frustrating. I have often wondered how you could determine the who/what/when/where......but by your posting I would say I am stuck with no hope of tracing from the island to the mainland. Regards, Lou On Tue, 6 Jun 2006 11:23:58 -0400 "Fernandes, Jose" <jose.fernandes@yrdsb.edu.on.ca> wrote: > Bob, > > I can only share my experience as a native-born Madeiran >who continues to have strong links to the region and >opinions... > > Camacho is a well-know name in Madeira but in my opinion >is not equivalent to Smith. Fernandes, Gonçalves, Freitas >etc. are more common. > > Over 500 years of colonization many decisions have been >made. Anything could happen and it did happen. Some by >priests others by Portuguese officials. Surnames can be >all over the place. The old Madeira was also very class >based. Some names denoted upper class. Some families with >common names and who became rich wanted to be different. >Thus you have Pereira Camacho to distinguish from others. >Sometimes, if you married "up", the children took the >most "rich" name. Sometimes they added a "de" and >sometimes that "de" was taken away by officials and >priests. > > Although all Madeirans have somewhat related (DNA could >prove that) not all surnames denote a common ancestor. > > Many don't want to talk about it, but we had slaves who >took the owner's name. We had Jews and moors that changed >names. Pereira, for example denotes Jewish ancestry. >There was a time that some families used the common >Spanish tradition of naming their children after their >mother. Therefore you would be known by your mother's >surname. There were many children of "rich men" who were >not given the father's surname. Usually children of young >(poor) women who worked for rich families. Therefore you >have "pai incognito". Let me tell you that father was not >unknown. Everybody knew it but they were not "allowed" to >name him. > > Madeirans changed surnames. It was easy to do it. Money >and influence could buy anything. > > In my opinion there are the Pereiras and then there are >the Pereira Camacho famnilies. It would be interesting to >find out when that started and what prompted it. > > I don't think I have added to your research but all of >the best. > > José Fernandes > > > -----Original Message----- >From: BOBCAMSCPW@aol.com [mailto:BOBCAMSCPW@aol.com] > Sent: June 5, 2006 11:04 PM > To: PRT-MADEIRA-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [PRT-MADEIRA] Madeiran archives website > > thank you everyone for the information. I now have a >question about my > family in Madeira. When I was doing my research I was >told by someone that also > was doing research in Madeira that I would need to >research everyone with the > middle name of Pereira because they would be related to >each other. Do you > know if that is true or not. I was told that the Last > name of Camacho is > like Smith there are so many of them that why you could >tell who is related to > whom was by there middle name unless one of the women >got married to another > Camacho with a different middle name then you would have >to research that > name. > The main reason I ask this is that I have done some >research and found that > most of the surname are all the same. Using either >Joao, Jose, and so on, > but everyone has had the middle name of Pereira and then >Camacho. > > Thanks > > > > Bob Camacho > Researching the islands of > Terceira for da Costa, and Evangelho, > Graciousa for Reis, and > Madeira for Camacho > > > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your >family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the >last 12 months. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx > > > > > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your >family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the >last 12 months. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx >