Most
people, at some stage in their lives, take an interest
in their roots, asking: “Who were my ancestors?
What sort of people were they? What were their triumphs,
trials and tragedies? Who are my relatives?”
We Macanese are fortunate that some years ago the Fundação
Oriente commissioned Jorge Forjaz to produce his monumental
three-volume work “Familias Macaenses” which
documents many of the families of Macau, and which provides
a great deal of information on people’s occupations,
life histories, addresses, etc., with 44,000 names. For
this work, which was published in 1996, Forjaz earned
the accolades of his peers and the gratitude of Macanese
all over the world. Generations to come will treasure
these books.
These books however, are in Portuguese, and the information
not readily accessible to the many Macanese dispersed
all over the world, therefore some years ago I embarked
on a project to put the information of Macanese families
onto a computer database in English - names, births, marriages
and deaths. Many people all over the world have collaborated
by sending in updated information, corrections, photos
and narratives. The database continues to grow rapidly.
I
am pleased to report that the entire database (now with
some 44,500 people) is in a (draft) restricted website;
it can be accessed by using a password. I am not sure
at this stage how the passwords will be managed all over
the world: at present I am giving access only to individuals
but shall be writing to the various clubs – Casa
de Macau, UMA, Lusitano Club, etc. – to see if some
arrangement can be made. If you are a financial member
of one of the Macanese Clubs and are interested in collaborating
or gaining access to the website, please contact your
local Club.
Casa Australia members can click
here.
Here are a few samples from the website:
The
'Welcome' Page
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Part of the 'Help' Page
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Every
one of the 44,500 people in the website has an individual
page giving essential details such as name, date and place
of birth, marriage and death, and names of spouse(s) and
children, but occasionally including narratives.
An
example of a person's page (Note
the relationships, reference to charts and photos)
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A
Descendant Box Chart
There
are also “box charts” of ancestors of
some people and, for each of the principal progenitors
in Forjaz’s books, box charts of all their
descendants. Also shown are relationships to a few
of my friends and collaborators.
The major advantage is that one is able to navigate
around easily and find people, and then to look
up further details in Forjaz’s books. For
example, clicking on the name of a child will take
you instantly to that child’s page.
(Pink
boxes for females, blue for males) |
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An
example of a group photo - Clicking
on a face takes you to that person’s page
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The
website is not limited to genealogical data: it can include
articles about Macau or its people, music, cooking recipes,
and links to other websites – really, the only limitations
are one’s imagination and the time and effort to
put it all together. Surprisingly, cost is not a significant
issue.
With
the cooperation of many, I hope to establish a permanent
record of Macanese culture and history and engender a
sense of pride in Macanese heritage, particularly among
the newer generations.
If
you have an interest in collaborating on Macanese genealogy,
please contact me.
Click
here to email
