Portuguese ancestry?

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Profile	Posted by	Options	Post Date
Member Since: July 2003 Posts: 274 Send Message	Jennifer	Report	14 Aug 2009 16:38
Member Since: July 2003 Posts: 274 Send Message	A while a go I asked a question about finding records in Portugal and the answers were a bit thin. I went there myself and found some info that might help others: You must know the Freguesia (parish) where your ancestor was born. Once you have that you can phone the District Archives nearest to that parish The records have not often been digitalised so you can go to the District Archive or email them and ask them to do a manual search for you It's time consuming and difficult -especially if you don't speak Portuguese -but the people are friendly and helpful and knowledgable Once you find the priest's entry in the parish book you can order a certificate from the DA Often the priest kept the person's whole life story on the one page -christening, confirmation, marriage and death. There are usually the names of the grandparents and their address and occupation on the christening entry which is very helpful