Vila do Porto, Azores, Portugal Genealogy

This is a historical and genealogical guide to the municipality of Santa Maria.

History

 * Santa Maria is Portuguese for Saint Mary, and is the southernmost island in the Azores.
 * In 1427 navigator Diogo de Silves found the island of Santa Maria. In 1432 the discovery of the island was officially recognized when it was declared so by the Portuguese Crown and registered in Cabral's name.
 * The colonization of this island was between 1443 and 1447, principally by settlers from Portuguese Alentejo and Algarve.
 * The island was also a victim of attacks by pirates and privateers.
 * Santa Maria has 5 civil parishes.
 * The population of Santa Maria is roughly 5,600 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 Santa Maria. Contact a civil registration office in a nearby municipality to find out if they have the records for Santa Maria.

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
Ponta Delgada Portugal Family History Center Avenida Antero de Quental 43 PONTA DELGADA 9500-160 PORTUGAL Phone: +351 962-6409 Email: [mailto:PT_PontaDelgada@ldsmail.net PT_PontaDelgada@ldsmail.net] Website: Ponta Delgada Portugal Family History Center