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Archiver > AZORES > 2001-08 > 0996727537


From: Doug da Rocha Holmes <>
Subject: [AZORES-L] Francisco Botelho Maciel Bettencourt
Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 21:45:37 -0700


One of my hobbies is "collecting" priests.

I recently noticed one who held the position of Vice Vicar in the parish of Manadas, island of São Jorge.

I mention him because I know others on the list are also heavily into compiling the ancestries of particular villages and might like to find a person such as this and see how he fits into the family group.

Vice Vigário Francisco Botelho Maciel Bettencourt caught my eye for two reasons. Firstly, the surname Botelho is usually associated with the island of São Miguel, though there are some very important families by this name on Terceira and probably Santa Maria. But what struck me are his other names, Maciel and Bettencourt.

Bettencourt is so popular in the Azores that there is never any way to know where a Bettencourt family came from, based solely on that single surname. But Maciel is another story. Maciel is very popular on São Jorge and many places on Pico. I don't do enough São Miguel research to know for sure if they are few in number there, but I think that is the case.

So if we were to try to know the origins of this vicar based only on his names, I would say that he is a mixture of São Miguel and São Jorge ancestry. I think his Botelho line is from São Miguel and both Maciel and Bettencourt from São Jorge.

I have no idea what span of years he served as the vice vicar in Manadas, but the record in which I noticed him was from 1870.

So if you are one of the people like me who is interested in priests, now you know of his existence and perhaps can one day tie him into your database of families.

I really doubt anyone can tell me right away where he was born, but I sure would be curious just how close I came to guessing his origins.

Of course, to study him further, you would want to look at all the Manadas records and see when he first appeared there and when he no longer was listed. Then look for his death record in Manadas or maybe Velas. A death from 1870 or later will be most likely to include his parents and place of birth (though nothing is ever a guarantee).

Cumprimentos,

Doug da Rocha Holmes
Azores Genealogy Specialist www.dholmes.com
1035 Starbrook Drive
Galt, California 95632

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