First person known to have surname " Medeiros " was Rui Goncalves de Medeiros who lived in Evora, Portugal. He was Commander in Chief of Evora. The Medeiros Family seems to be a place of de Medeiros in the Parish of Vila Cha in the municipality of Montalegre, in the Vila Real District in the Province of Tras-os-Montes.The crater is 5km from the county seat and is 16 km from the border with Spain on the edge of the Barroso Mountains.

[George Medeiros]

First person known to have surname " Medeiros " was Rui Goncalves de Medeiros who lived in Evora, Portugal. He was Commander in Chief of Evora. The Medeiros Family seems to be a place of de Medeiros in the Parish of Vila Cha in the municipality of Montalegre, in the Vila Real District in the Province of Tras-os-Montes.The crater is 5km from the county seat and is 16 km from the border with Spain on the edge of the Barroso Mountains.
These places are included in the Parish of Vila Cha :
1. Castanheira
2. Firvidas
3. Gralhos
4. Medeiros
5. Peirezes
6. Penedones
7. Sao Vicente
8. Travarsos Tea
9. Trogueda

In the 15th century one branch of the Medeiros family leaving Ponte de Lima set up
in the Algarve and another branch went to the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores.In 1420-1450 James Guill list several family heads in the Madeira archipelago.One person mentioned is Rui Vaz de Medeiros a native of Ponte de Lima in the Guimarae's region who was a contemporary of Goncalves de Medeiros. In 1474 Rui Vaz went to Madeira during the first colonization of the island. He married D. Ana ( or Mecia) Mendonca Goncalves who was the daughter of Jorge de Mendonca .This couple moved with their family to Sao Miguel,Azores and had a lot land at the end of Lagoa.They arrived in Sao Miguel with 3rd Captain Don Rui Goncalves of Camara.
Rui Vaz de Medeiros and D. Ana Goncalves children were:
1. Vasco de Medeiros ( Rui Vaz)
2.Rafael de Medeiros
3. Joao Vaz de Medeiros
4. Jordan Vaz de Medeiros
5. White Days Medeiros
6. Guiomar Ruiz de Medeiros
7. Maria de Medeiros

Rui Vaz de Medeiros known as Vasco de Medeiros settled in the town of Lagoa or in Alagoa Village on Sao Miguel ,Azores. He was married to Catherine Bridge the daughter of Fernando Rodrigues a noble of Lagoa. Many Azoreans with the Medeiros surname are descendents of this Vasco de Medeiros.

Vasco's siblings :
1. Rafael married the daughter of Antonio Roiz Carneiro the Governor
of Santa Maria Island.
2. Joao married Isabel Frias
3. Jordan married Vila Franca the daughter of Francisco Afonso de Paiva
4. White married Diogo Afonso da Costa Cogombreiro
5. Guiomar married Anes Lope de Araujo
6. Maria de Medeiros ( was married 3 times )

Doing some research I found this information in Portuguese. I tried to write it more clearly for myself. Does anyone in the group have more accurate information on this history of the Medeiros surname or any corrections for me on what I have written here as to accuracy ?
George M. ( Pereira ) Medeiros Jr.


Sent from my iPad

[MaryAnn Santos]

Thank you, George, for sharing this very useful information (I have Medeiros in my line). Would you share the source of this information - is it all from Guill or multiple sources. The reason I ask is that I work at NYU and the library has a decent number of books on Portugal that I can access. I currently have all 4 volumes of Saudade da Terra. The lovely thing about it is I can renew the books 4 or 5 times over for 3 months each time.

I have the index here at home and the rest of the volumes in my office at school. I looked up Medeiros and found multiple references to Rui Vaz and some of the other names you list including Jordão, João, Rafael, etc. I will look them up when I return to work tomorrow. I also have a book called Capitães dos Donatários 1439-1766. Here is an except (roughly translated followed by the original) from chapter 2, oage 25.

...drawn to S. Miguel (were) various persons and families, some of elevated social standing, like Gaspar de Bettencourt, descendent of the King of the Canaries, Antão Pacheco, descendent of old  noblemen of Castela, Rui Barbosa, native of Minho, Fernão Camelo Pereira, native of Castelo Branco, Fernão Ànes Tavares, native of Portalegre, Martins Ànes de Sousa, from Madeira, Rui Vaz de Medeiros, of Ponte de Lima, married to Àna de Mendonça Furtado, from Madeira, and Rui Vaz Gago do Trato, married to Catarina Gomes Raposo, all of whom left numerous descendants who still today have here representatives in the families Bettencourt, Pacheco, Raposo, Correia, Barbosa and others. (See Gaspar Frutuoso, Saudade da Terra, Volume I, pages 68-140.) 

(...atraiu para S. Miguel várias pessoas e familías, algumas de elevada categoria social, como Gaspar de Bettencourt, descendente do Rei das Canárias, Antão Pacheco, descendente de antigos fidalgos de Castela, Rui Barbosa, natural do Minho, Fernão Camelo Pereira, natural de Castelo Branco, Fernão Ànes Tavares, natural de Portalegre, Martins Ànes de Sousa, da Madeira, Rui Vaz de Medeiros, de Ponte de Lima, casado com Àna de Mendoça Furtado, da Madeira, e Rui Vaz Gago do Trato*, casado com Catarina Gomes Raposo, os quais deixaram numerosa descendência que ainda hoje tem aqui os seus representantes nas familías Bettencourt, Pacheco, Raposo, Correia, Barbosa e outras.

*Chamado do Trato por ser homem mui poderoso e tratar com el-rei na Mina, Cabo Verde e outras partes, onde mandava seus navios....(Vide Gaspar Frutuoso, obracitada, vol. I, pág. 86)

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MaryAnn Santos

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[Dano]

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