Asturian-American Migration Forum

I have a book from 1968 named "Asturias and its Illustrious Men". From king Pelayo to emigration. There are small biographies from men who excelled in the military service, religion, arts, politics and emigration.
Unfortunately the emigration chapter is almost from people who went to Latin America (most of all Cuba, and Mexico).

In the "Militars" Chapter are the names:

Ruy Perez de Aviles, from Aviles captain in 1248
Pedro Alonso, captain in 1147
Rodrigo Alvarez de las Asturias, conde de Gijón y Noreña.
Alvaro Días de Asturias, from Navia "almirante" in 1497
Gutierre Gonzalez, from Quiros
Alvaro Florez de Asturias, XVI century
Gomez De Solis
Juan de Leon, from Aviles, pioneer in Arequipa (Peru)
Alfonso Martin, settler and founder of Guatemala
Alonso Diaz Reguera, from Luarca. XVI century
Alonso de Estrada, Mexican "Virrey"
Alvaro del Busto, from Pravia. Captain with Magallanes.

And many others. Is someone interested?

Dolores


Dolores

That's interesting, Dolores, because it reminds me of a question I've had.

My grandmother's family name was "Menendez Conde" and they lived in "Campo de Conde" up on the hill in the San Cristóbal area of Avilés.

This "Conde" name is interesting, but we've been confused about whether the family had at one time a conde (count or countess), or whether they just lived on a count or countess' lands.

Some family stories indicate that at least some of the land the family farmed was rented from a countess.

On the other hand, I've also read that as a result of the efforts of Asturians in the reconquest, a great number (maybe half?) were given the title of hidalgo (a low level of nobility). This was a little unusual, since they were essentially peasants and the typical Spanish hidalgo would have had wealth. (Correct me if I'm off.) I've wondered if the Conde name could have come from that era and thus refer to some sort of noble status--long lost.

Does the book say anything to clarify this?

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translated by Art & Reverso

Esto es interesante, Dolores, porque me recuerda de una pregunta que he tenido.

El apellido de mi abuela era "Menendez Conde" y ellos vivieron en "Campo de a Conde" encima de la colina en el área de San Cristóbal en Avilés.

Este nombre "Conde" es interesante, pero hemos sido confundidos sobre si la familia tenía en cierta época un conde, o si ellos solamente vivieron sobre las tierras de una condesa o un conde.

Algunas historias de la familia indican que al menos parte de la tierra que la familia cultivaba fue alquilada de una condesa.

¿De otra parte, también he leído que como consecuencia de los esfuerzos de asturianos en la reconquista, un gran número (tal vez la mitad?) fueron dado por el reino el titulo de "hidalgo" (un nivel bajo de nobleza). Era un poco insólito, ya que eran esencialmente campesinos y el hidalgo típico de España habría tenido la riqueza. (Corríjame si estoy equivocado.) Me he preguntado si el nombre "Conde" pudiera haber venido a partir de aquella época y así se refiere a algún tipo del estado noble--perdido hace mucho tiempo.

¿Dice el libro algo para clarificarlo?

Dear Dolores:

Does the book have any mention of the name Verdin? I was always told my great great grandparents owned a factory in Mieres. Unfortunately, I have found no proof of this story. If there is an index I would really appreciate you looking up the name VERDIN or WERDIN.

Thank you,

Hello Sweeney,

I looked up the name Verdin in my book, but there is no mention about it.



Art,

En el libro vienen muchas personas que se apellidaban Menendez (que es un apellido común en Asturias) y solamente dos que se apellidaban Conde.

Una de ellas fue un "Menendez Conde" que fue Obispo de Tuy, no se si tuvo algo que ver con tu familia.

Al parecer el apellido Conde, al igual que Hidalgo, Rey, etc. viene de los títulos nobiliarios. En la página "heraldaria.com" en la sección: Genealogía - Onomástica (apellidos procedentes de oficios, cargos o títulos) se menciona ésto que comentas.

Dolores

Dear Dolores:

Thanks for looking. I appreciate it!

Art,

I think that "Conde" can mean not only the title "count," but also earl, a kind of overseer, or even a gypsy title (somewhat akin to King of the Gypsies) in castellano.

Bob

You are welcome Donna

Hola,
Does your book mention anyone with the last name of Areces?

Thank you

I doubt that he's in the book, given it's date, but the recent president of Asturias was Vicente Alberto Álvarez Areces. People usually called him "Areces."

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Dudo que está mencionado en el libro, dando su fecha, pero el presidente reciente del Principado de Asturias era Vicente Alberto Álvarez Areces. Generalmente se llama "Areces".

Hola Art,
Thank you for replying. I am aware of the Areces that you mentioned, but I still haven't figured out if or how we are related. The reason I asked if there was an Areces in this book is because I was told that one of my ancestors was given the title of Hildago. It's sort of a lore in the family, but no one knows who it was or when. The only info I have is that it was given during the time of Napolean. Interesting story, and hopefully someday I can find out, but honestly, right now I'm just trying to go back as far as I can with the family tree. If I come across it in the meantime, that would be great.
Thanks

Hola a todos,

Para los que estéis interesados, existe una Asociación de Hidalgos de España que edita una revista donde se recogen genealogias de familias de hidalgos de toda España, no solo de Asturias. Os pongo el enlace

http://hidalgosdeespana.com/canales/aso ... toria.html


Otro Areces ilustre fue Ramón Areces, empresario que tras unos años como emigrante en Cuba, fundo en Madrid "El Corte Inglés" y la Fundación Areces.

Ah, then to get more information on Asturian hidalgos, see this thread:
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2452

Hi Art,
Thanks for the leads on Hidalgos. I was wondering if you could educate me on how to request some help on this site for finding my ancestors baptism or marriage certificates. I already posted a request under Genealogy, but I'm not sure if that is all I have to do or should I address it to someone? Please advise and thanks again for your time and consideration.

The Registro Civil started in 1871 and is a good place to find information on ancestors after that date. Write to the local Registro for your area of interest. For earlier dates, church records can be useful. They may be kept in the local church or in a more centralized location. Write to the parish priest or the bishop.

Hi Bob,
THanks for the info. Yeah, the info I'm searching for are prior to 1870, so my only option left is through the Church. That's how I got to this site. I posted the info I'm looking for under Genealogy a couple of weeks ago hoping that maybe someone could help me as they have with others, but I wasn't sure if I did it correctly or if there is another way to request the info. Any suggestions?