Velas, Azores, Portugal Genealogy

This is a historical and genealogical guide to the municipality of São Jorge.

History

 * São Jorge is a Portuguese island in the central Azorean archipelago of Portugal.
 * Around 1460 the first settlers from northern Europe began to colonize the island.
 * The island was populated by the time that João Vaz Corte Real, the Donatary-Captain of Angra do Heroísmo (Terceira) obtained by contract, the captaincy of the island in 1483.
 * São Jorge has 11 civil parishes.
 * The population of São Jorge is roughly 9500 people.

Online Records
After 100 years, all civil registration records are sent to the municipality's district office.

To view online civil registration records, visit Azores Civil Registration.

Contact a Civil Registration Office
There are no known civil registration offices within the municipality of São Jorge. Contact a civil registration office in a nearby municipality to find out if they have the records for São Jorge.

Communicate your request in Portuguese whenever possible. For writing a letter or email in Portuguese, use the translated questions and phrases in this Portuguese Letter-writing Guide.

Online Records
In 1910, the Portuguese government transferred all birth, marriage, and death records from all the country's parishes to the district offices. These records are now in either District or National archives. Many of these records have been digitized and can be viewed at the District Archive's website or on FamilySearch.

To view online records, visit Azores Church Records.

Contact a Parish
If you are seeking church records created more recently than 1910, it is possible to obtain them by writing to the parish where the record was created. Writing to a parish is not always a reliable way to obtain information, because officials may or may not respond.

Conferência Episcopal Portuguesa lists websites for the 20 Dioceses of Portugal. Once on the Diocesan website, use the listing of parishes (paróquias) to locate contact information for the parish in question.

Communicate your request in Portuguese whenever possible. For writing a letter or email in Portuguese, use the translated questions and phrases in this Portuguese Letter-writing Guide.

Cemeteries
Cemeteries did not become popular in Portugal until the late nineteenth century. Prior to this, individuals were buried in their parish church cemetery, and their bones were later removed to an unmarked burial place.

Family History Centers
Angra do Heroismo Portugal Family History Center Rua Prof Augusto Monjardino 45 ANGRA DO HEROISMO 9700-020 PORTUGAL Phone: +351 295-217-651 Email: [mailto:PT_AngraDoHeroismo@ldsmail.net PT_AngraDoHeroismo@ldsmail.net] Website: Angra do Heroismo Portugal Family History Center