Genealogy

Recently I ran into a genealogy page by Laura Knight Jadczyk which made me think about my own genealogy. My mother had mentioned that my dad’s grandmother’s, my great grandmother, maiden name was Albergaria and that it was a very old name in the “old country”. That country being, the Azores-Portugal. Well a quick search and I came up with Captain Joao Soares de Albergaria .

History
The discovery and settling of the Azorean islands.
...According to certain historic reports the island of São Miguel was populated in 1444. The populace that disembarked in Povoação came from the “Estremadura”, “Alto Alentejo”, “Algarve” (all continental Portugal), and other foreign countries, specifically France. Gonçalo Velho Cabral was the dominant force in bringing these people to São Miguel. They spread themselves along the coastline in areas where conditions of accessibility and farming were best.

...Later, Gonçalo Velho’s nephew and heir, João Soares de Albergaria, brought to the island some families from the Algarve (southern continental Portugal) to give an impetus to the settling of the island. Henceforth major development occurred and brought about the first town charter, naming the area “Vila do Porto”, which today is the most important urban centre of the island.

And Gonçalo Velho Cabral worked closely with Henry the Navigator….

Wow, all this in just a quick search! Of course I have no idea if I’m actually related to João but it was fun brushing up on my Azorean history.