Researching Sephardic Ancestors in Portugal with tombo.pt

Increasingly, Sephardic researchers are able to identify the names of ancestral towns and villages in Portugal. Yet few of us have experience navigating Portuguese archives, especially Catholic parish and notarial records where so much essential information lies hidden. In this talk, João Ventura, creator of tombo.pt, will introduce the structure of Portuguese archives, explain how to locate and interpret parish registers and other documents, and show how tombo.pt can simplify and guide your search. Whether you are new to Portuguese records or have already begun exploring, this session will provide the knowledge and tools needed to continue your research in Portugal with confidence.

João Ventura was born in the Algarve and trained as a computer scientist, applying his skills in the European aerospace sector before turning to family history. Frustrated by the fragmented nature of Portuguese records, he created tombo.pt—a free, independent guide that consolidates access to digitised parish books and archival resources from all 22 Portuguese district archives, including the Azores and Madeira. Now based in Germany, João has spent nearly two decades tracing his own Portuguese ancestry. When not improving tombo.pt or researching archives, he is also a scuba diving instructor and contributor to open-source software projects.

Transcript

1. Researching Sephardic ancestors in Portugal with João Ventura Sephardic World - June 8th 2025
2. Short Bio • Born in Faro in April 1974 • Computer Science in Lisbon • Currently, Integration and Validation engineer in the European Agency for Meteorological Satellites in Darmstadt, Germany • Father of two boys of 19 and 18 • Amateur genealogist for 18 years • 99% Portuguese, ancestors all over Portugal • Open-source contributor to website development software • Scuba diving instructor • Developed tombo.pt 12 years ago
3. Faro in the 1620s Jewish Quarter (“Judiaria”) Cristãos-novos by Carla Vieira, “Uma amarra ao mar e outra à terra. Cristãos-novos no Algarve (1558-1650)”, 2012
5. 1910 Portugal becomes a Republic
6. Portuguese archives • March 31st, 1911: All parish books are transferred to the newly-formed Registo Civil service. • Records older than 100y (Birth), 50(Marriage) and 30 (Death) transferred to the corresponding District Archive. • Per law of 1835, a “freguesia” was created for each Catholic parish, so map of 1911 freguesias is almost 1:1 with parishes. Same law created 17 of the 18 districts. • 1 National Archive (Torre do Tombo) ◦ also District Archive for Lisbon • 17 District Archives ◦ 2 delegated to Universities (Coimbra and Braga) • 4 Regional Archives (3 in the Azores) • 1 Municipal, 1 Diocesan (Lamego) • 7 different sites (22 up to a month ago)
7. Location Hierarchy
8. How to use • Either search for the town name in the search box; or • Navigate via District -> Municipality -> Civil Parish (Freguesia) • Main area ◦ District level ▪ Governo Civil (passports) ▪ Diocesan records (not Inquisition) ◦ Municipal level ▪ Civil Registry (post-1911) ▪ Pre-1911 registry for non-Catholics (1832-1911) ◦ Parish level ▪ Catholic records • Top bar ◦ Links to sites of interest
9. Links to sites of interest Links to the top-level “collection” in the source Known documents for this parish
10. Early birth records - 1583 26 November 1583, baptism of Manuel, son of João Ribeiro and Ana Fernandes
11. Early birth records - 1680 17 March 1680, was born Manuel baptised on the 25, legitimate son of Roque Dias and Bárbara Mendes
12. On 6 February 1721, baptism of Luís, legitimate son of Sebastião de Vargas and Maria Gomes Later birth records - 1721
13. Later birth records - 1747 Crispim, son of Luís de Vargas e Maria Gonçalves, of the first marriage, both from this village, paternal grandson of Sebastião de Vargas from Barrancos and his wife Maria Gomes from this village, maternal grandson of João Gonçalves from the Algarve and his wife Margarida Fernandes from this village, was born on 20 November 1747
14. Other sites of interest Index of all the Inquisition processes Links to the records in the Torre do Tombo site DGLAB site with most of the original records Can be searched for other types of documents NOT a blog Many volunteer-created indexes (links in top bar of tombo.pt) Subscription site Contains many indexes to a few municipalities Fairly complete Lisbon marriage list inquisicao.info digitarq.arquivos.p t repositoriohistorico. pt Similar to tombo.pt Seems abandoned, but has some indexes for different parishes Arquivo Histórico da Marinha Arquivo Histórico Militar GERMIL project GenealogiaFB Nós Portugueses Military archives
16. Other types of documents Due to the their vast number, there are many types of relevant documents that can’t be easily listed in tombo.pt, but that have a high interest for genealogical research • Inquisition processes (Tribunal do Santo Ofício - PT/TT/TSO) • Notary documents (search for “Cartório notarial”) ◦ Records of sales and wills starting in the 1500s • “De genere" qualifications - applications for Catholic positions • “Confessados” rolls • No census records ◦ Election census only after 1836 and Military census after 1855
17. CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo, and includes icons by Flaticon, and infographics & images by Freepik Obrigado! Questions? Doubts? Suggestions? joao.ventura@tombo.pt https://tombo.pt Please keep this slide for attribution youtube.com/@tombo_pt facebook.com/tombo.pt instagram.com/tombo.pt
18. PT/ADFAR/PRQ/LGA03/001/0056 PT-ADFAR-PRQ-LGA03-001-00056_m0042.jpg
19. Transkribus (Portuguese Handwriting 16th-19th c.) Aos tres dias do mes de junhoo do anno de mill oito centos noventa e quator, nesta Rguja á podial de Nossa Senhoraa do Lue da Villa de Payva Conalho da mesma Villa Deree do Algaera Vasali sei puleunamente, procedendo lianca do Peullentis piam a Reverenolicimo Sonbre Meuhrisco = Bispo a esta Deousa, nm individar do sobo Jereniu a quem dei o nome de Lacilia, e que lsou n esta Juquezia no dia crato do mel de serueiro do anno de sua filha legitima jnimiia de nome/ de Sose Robeieo Ainitimo, natural de Lagos, e Maria delos Iaaieos goverro de casa os Olhao onde fo para ocastillos saarochianos d asa Jnequeria e mon esm neccidentalmente no ditto ou conoha
20. ChatGPT (GPT-4) > Por favor transcreve este texto em Português Claro! Aqui está a transcrição do texto em português da imagem: Lucília Assento N.º 31 Aos três dias do mez de junho do anno de mil novecentos e quatro, n’esta Egreja Parochial da Nossa Senhora da Luz da Villa da Lagoa, concelho da mesma Villa, Diocese de Angra, Baptizei solenemente, por excepção licença do Ex.mo e Rev.mo Senhor Bispo d’esta Diocese, uma recemnascida do sexo feminino a quem dei o nome de Lucília, e que nasceu n’esta freguezia no dia sete do mez de janeiro do anno de mil novecentos e quatro, filha legítima e primogênita de João Silvério Clementino, natural da Lagoa, e Maria das Dores, governa de casa, do Outeiro, onde foi born accidentalmente no sítio das Covas...