Discovering your Portuguese heritage

Many Australians are descended from an emigrant, whether they came to Australia as a convict or immigrated to Australia to make a new life for themselves. When starting any family history, you need to gather as much information as possible from your own records, and family stories, to work out a starting point. You work backwards through those records, and official birth, death and marriage records, to discover when your ancestor came to Australia.

Portuguese immigrants have been coming to Australia since the early 1800s, but it wasn’t until after World War II that they began arriving in greater numbers. For more recent immigration records you can search the National Archives of Australia Passenger Arrivals index through their RecordSearch. This covers the years 1898-1972, and the records are available to view online. For any arrivals prior to the 1920s check each state’s government records offices. Once you have established names, places and dates you are ready to start exploring records overseas.

State Library of Queensland’s collection includes some books related to how to trace genealogy in Europe. Books like Tracing your European Roots and Family Tree guidebook to Europe : your essential guide to trace your genealogy in Europe offer some useful tips for searching such as naming conventions and useful Portuguese words for family history research. There is information on key records to search for, and where they’re located, both online and in Portugal. You can also find sample letters that can be used when writing to Portuguese authorities. Within State Library’s family history databases available onsite, ancestryLibrary edition and FindMyPast, there are a small selection of records including baptisms, marriages and deaths from 1570 to 1910.

One great website you can access from home is FamilySearch. The FamilySearch wiki offers an excellent guide to Portugal Genealogy that provides general information about researching in Portugal, as well as more detailed information for searching in the various districts that make up Portugal. The wiki also provides research strategies, information on record types, online learning videos and much more. Once you’re ready to start searching, create a free account on FamilySearch and explore their online collections for Portugal.

Some other resources that might be useful when researching Portuguese family history

Websites

• Genealogy research in Portugal 
• How to create your Portuguese family tree 
• Portuguese- American Genealogy 
• Portuguese National Archive - ARQUIVO NACIONAL DA TORRE DO TOMBO 

Videos

• Beginning Your Genealogy in Portugal - James Tanner (19 Mar 2023) BYU Library family history 
• Beginning Portugal Research – History and
• Beginning Portugal Research – Records by The Family History Guide 
• Getting Started in Portuguese Genealogy - American Ancestors