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EARLY HISTORY AND THE MOVE TO ENGLAND
The earliest record we have of what is now "our" Froes family is the information that the Frois (or Froilas) family came from Galizain in Spain to Portugal in 1120. This is before Portugal became a country (formed in 1183 with the establishment of the first King of Portugal).
The direct relationship to "our" Froes
is that the family crest of this "Noble Family of Portugal" (this is the title
of a reference book in the National Library in Lisbon) is the same as that which
we have on a crest, a stamp (to imprint the crest onto wax) and a ring (which
was stolen about 30 years ago). Peter attributes the version of the crest (
View
the Crest) we have to Francis Henry
Froes (link
to Francis Henry Froes ) , who is the son of Francisco Roiz Henriques
Froes( link
to Francisco Roiz Henriques Froes) , who probably came to England
from Portugal in 1809 (we think when the Liberal Party were kicked out of Portugal
and according to Portuguese history, it is documented that they came to England).
Francisco Roiz Henriques Froes is the first of the "modern" Froes family. As noted above, he probably came to England in 1809 when the Liberal Party moved to England. Peter has tracked down that Francisco probably became "Francis Rodoric Henry" in England and married Mildred Thew in 1813. The couple had five children (John Francis approx. b.1815, Francis Henry b. 1817, Maria Inez approx. b.1819, Henry Anthony b.1821 and Teresa Agnes b.1822).
We have established a connection of the name "Henriques" to the royal house of Braganza (the name "Henriques" is mentioned repeatedly in "A History of the Royal Family"), but the exact connection needs to be clarified. No matter - there is a connection of some sort, perhaps via a female member of the Froes family marrying into the Braganza family, to the royal house of Portugal. During the early 1800's, there was a strong connection between the House of Braganza and Brazil. The Royal family of Portugal were forced to leave for Brazil in 1807 and returned to Portugal in 1821. After the 1823-24 civil war in Portugal (between the two sons of the King of Portugal, Peter who won and Michael who subsequently was exiled to Germany), Peter became King, later followed by his daughter as Queen in 1834. This side of the family "Petered" out (ouch! - sorry) and the present pretender to the throne of Portugal (who lives in Lisbon) actually is descended from Michael. So note the connection with Brazil outlined above.
In fact, Francis Henry was born in South America. In subsequent years, the Francisco Froes family appeared to go back and forth to Brazil a number of times - perhaps a close part of the family was there. Francis Henry died in England in 1896, Francisco's death is not recorded as occurring in England, we suspect it may have occurred in Brazil after 1837 (English records of death's are well documented after 1837). Clearly one key to relating our family back to Portugal is to trace Francisco Roiz Henriques Froes (Francis Rodoric Henry Froes). This is a challenge. However, we have indications that the Froes family may have come from a farming area close to Lisbon called Torres Vedras. We partially researched this in the National Archives in Lisbon, however, 18 sub-divisions are in Torres Vedras. The christening records (hand-written and signed by the local priest) must be individually searched. Five of these revealed no Francisco Froes from about 1780 to 1795. Thirteen more need to be surveyed.
A final note on the early family in Portugal - there appear to be three major Froes families in Portugal. One which has been researched heavily has been documented in a book "Os Froes" (The Froes). This is not "our" family and has no royal connections. This leaves the other two, and from what we know (see above) "our" family may have blue blood connections - both from the very early Frois family from Spain and later with the House of Braganza.
