Good evening. My name is Marcia and I live in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. I have just been reading with interest all the mails that have come through to me from the mailing list regarding the Madeiran Archives Website. I also do not speak Portuguese and am having great difficulty in tracing my ancestry. My great-grandparents were born in Portugal. My great-grandmother was Maria Clara (Calderia) de Abreu/de Abreau/Deabreu (not sure of the spelling). She was born in Madeira but unfortunately the parish is unknown to me (I have a faint suspicion though that it may very well have been Funchal - don't ask me why, I just get these feelings sometimes). My great-grandfather was Marceal/Marcial/Marcel Vieira Serena and he was born in Lisbon. They both came through to South Africa in the early 1900's (I think). I today tried to do a search on the Madeiran Archives for the surname "Serena" but nothing comes up. I came up with lots of Vieira's and de Abreau's but nothing at all that comes close to my great-grandparents' names. I have been assured that Serena is definitely a Portuguese surname so can't understand why nobody else has that surname. I have basically hit a "brick wall" with my research. I have so far been unable to obtain birth certificates or any sort of family record from my grandmother's family members. Unfortunately the person who probably would have remembered the most (my grandmother), passed away in 1990. My great-grandparents' childrens' names were - De Lourdes Serena (died at age 19) (I think she may have been born in Portugal), "Fatti" (not sure if this is a Portuguese name or a nickname - He may also very well have been born in Portugal) Vieira Serena, Luiz Jose Vieira Serena, Antonio Vieira Serena, Deloures Serena, Theresa Maria Serena (born in South Africa I think), Beatrice (Beatriz) Serena (born in South Africa), Angelina Clara Serena (my deceased grandmother) (definitely born in South Africa) and Lawrence (Lourenco) Serena (he died as a baby from consumption). The reason I started my research in the first place was to try and see whether I would be able to obtain my Portuguese Passport through my maternal grandparents - So far the Portuguese Embassy in South Africa has been most unhelpful in that they refuse to give me any information as to whether I may or may not be entitled to a Portuguese passport. But, as my research has gone on, my curiosity has just gotten the better of me. My maternal side of the family seems to think that there is some huge secret about my great-grandfather's departure from Portugal - something to the effect that he could have stolen someone else's surname - but this has not been confirmed. Is there somebody out there that can perhaps help me in my quest for my heritage? Kind regards, Marcia Bezuidenhout

Hi Marcia Maybe I can give you a small hand with your research. The correct spelling for your grandmother's name was Maria Clara Caldeira de Abreu. Please note the spelling of Caldeira. English-speaking people have a tendency to write Calderia (the "i" after the "r") but as you progress in your research you'll fins that the ending "eira" very common in Portuguese surnames (Caldeira, Vieira, Ferreira, Pereira, etc.). You mention that your great-grandfather was born in Lisbon. "Serena" is certainly a Portuguese word but as a surname it is not that common. I just checked the Portuguese White Pages for the whole of Portugal and found 12 living people with the surname Serena. With the surname "Vieira Serena" I found only one person (Monica Vasconcelos Vieira Serena - 96 827 73 22). The number 96 indicates that this is a cellular phone, a common occurrence in Portugal today. Sometimes I think that just about everyone has a cell phone. Do you know if your great-grandparents married in Madeira? I checked the Madeira database and did not find a "Serena", but found several "Sereno". Also, the surname "Sereno" ending in "o" instead of "a" is a lot more common in the Portuguese White Pages, I found. The system refused to to a "national" search because it found too many. Based the names of your great-grandmother, I found the marriage below that could be that of her parents. At least the date and the surnames make sense. João de Abreu Aureliana Narcisa Caldeira 2929 3 v.º Porto da Cruz 1861 Have you tried the Family History Center? I checked the web and there is a Family History Center in Durban. The address is below: Durban South Africa 144 Silverton Road Berea Durban, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa In the Family History Center you can order and research the microfilms from Madeira. I checked their database and it seems that the all the books of the vital records are microfilmed, until 1911. You pay a pittance for the use of the microfilm and research at your leisure. Much better and cheaper than have the people at the Archives do it for you. Do not let the fact that you do not know Portuguese scare you. The wording on the registries is all the same and after the first ones you'll realize that they all records read about the same and only the names change. Good luck in your research. Let me know if you need anything else. Ana Ghia-Pereira Ottawa, Canada Researching: Bengio, Bendrao, Ayash, Paxiuta, Guia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marcia & Roland" <roland1@wol.co.za> To: <PRT-MADEIRA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 2:11 PM Subject: [PRT-MADEIRA] Madeiran Archives Website > Good evening. > > My name is Marcia and I live in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. I > have > just been reading with interest all the mails that have come through to me > from the mailing list regarding the Madeiran Archives Website. I also do > not speak Portuguese and am having great difficulty in tracing my > ancestry. > > My great-grandparents were born in Portugal. My great-grandmother was > Maria > Clara (Calderia) de Abreu/de Abreau/Deabreu (not sure of the spelling). > She > was born in Madeira but unfortunately the parish is unknown to me (I have > a > faint suspicion though that it may very well have been Funchal - don't ask > me why, I just get these feelings sometimes). My great-grandfather was > Marceal/Marcial/Marcel Vieira Serena and he was born in Lisbon. They both > came through to South Africa in the early 1900's (I think). > > I today tried to do a search on the Madeiran Archives for the surname > "Serena" but nothing comes up. I came up with lots of Vieira's and de > Abreau's but nothing at all that comes close to my great-grandparents' > names. I have been assured that Serena is definitely a Portuguese surname > so can't understand why nobody else has that surname. I have basically > hit > a "brick wall" with my research. I have so far been unable to obtain > birth > certificates or any sort of family record from my grandmother's family > members. Unfortunately the person who probably would have remembered the > most (my grandmother), passed away in 1990. > > My great-grandparents' childrens' names were - De Lourdes Serena (died at > age 19) (I think she may have been born in Portugal), "Fatti" (not sure if > this is a Portuguese name or a nickname - He may also very well have been > born in Portugal) Vieira Serena, Luiz Jose Vieira Serena, Antonio Vieira > Serena, Deloures Serena, Theresa Maria Serena (born in South Africa I > think), Beatrice (Beatriz) Serena (born in South Africa), Angelina Clara > Serena (my deceased grandmother) (definitely born in South Africa) and > Lawrence (Lourenco) Serena (he died as a baby from consumption). > > The reason I started my research in the first place was to try and see > whether I would be able to obtain my Portuguese Passport through my > maternal > grandparents - So far the Portuguese Embassy in South Africa has been most > unhelpful in that they refuse to give me any information as to whether I > may > or may not be entitled to a Portuguese passport. But, as my research has > gone on, my curiosity has just gotten the better of me. > > My maternal side of the family seems to think that there is some huge > secret > about my great-grandfather's departure from Portugal - something to the > effect that he could have stolen someone else's surname - but this has not > been confirmed. > > Is there somebody out there that can perhaps help me in my quest for my > heritage? > > Kind regards, > > Marcia Bezuidenhout > > > > ============================== > Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. > New content added every business day. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx >