Welcome to the Azores GenWeb!
Welcome to the Azores GenWeb!
These files have been sent to me by a gentleman, Andre Claeys, who wrote them as a history of the Azores as well as a genealogy of some of its early Flemish colonists. Even though the text is in the Dutch language, his hope is that the names, dates, and places contained in it will be helpful to researchers and he wanted as many people as possible to have access to it. His sources are given at the end of the document, in "Bronnen."
These files were generously donated by their author in order to share his work with others. Unfortunately, I do not read Dutch, as I suspect most of you do not either. So, I cannot verify the contents or the validity of his work. Please accept it, then, in the spirit and intent in which it is given. Good luck and happy hunting!
The following are presented here as PDF files. These are the final versions of his research.
Flemings in the Azores since the 15th century Volume I(13.9 MB):
A. History of Continental Portugal and the Azores
B. History of Flanders, the Liberty of Bruges and Bruges
C. 17 Luso-family genealogy of Burgundian-Flemish Azorianen
Flemings in the Azores since the 15 century, Volume II,(6 MB)
Genealogical History of 17 Luso-Burgundian-Flemish families Azorianen Genealogies Part II, 4 to 16.
Flemings in the Azores since the 15th century, Volume III(2.9 MB) updated 12 Oct 2011
17. Willem De Kersemakere (Bruges) Guilherme Casmaca (Azores) The Offspring Silveira (Vander Haeghen the family of William's first wife, deceased in Bruges)
Important correction regarding Willem Vander Haeghen by André Claeys:
De Kersemakere/Casmaca- An explanation in English that Willem Vander Haeghen, in fact is Willem De Kersemakere.
Silveiras Portuguese Nobility.This is a document by Andre Claeys and he would like to make clear that these Silveires are NOT descendants of Willem van der Haeghen (Guilhermo da Silveira). Like the other document, this one is written in Dutch but Mr. Claeys has provided some help to non-Dutch readers in the form of a translation of various words in the document into Portuguese and then to English. This can be found in the last three pages of the document, which is also a PDF file.
This file is Clarifications on the genealogies Silveira and Casmaca by Andre Ckaeys (it is an updated version, posted 3 Aug 2011)
These PDF files can be opened by either Macs or Windows using the free program, Adobe Reader or the Mac's built-in program, Preview. You may want to do a search of the document for any names or places you are interested in. To do that on a Mac, press the Command and F keys together. On a Windows computer, press Control and F to search.
Mr. Claeys wanted to add this comment: "Willem van der Haeghen was only one of the hundreds of knights, belonging to the gentry of Flandres. Not one single member of the Flemish nobility ever emigrated to the Açores. I added this text in my file 'Açores'. This must be explicitingly said. Nobody may be deceived."
***NOTE: If you find a section of any of the above works that you would like to translate, there are many free translation services on the internet that will translate small portions of a page at a time. One of those that I have found to be very helpful is on Google at http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en.
Finding Portuguese Roots Intro
…..Locating Town from U.S. Sources 1a
…..Obtaining Vital Records from U.S. 1b
…..Other Useful Portuguese Records 2c