Following a start in tracing his own family tree
on both his father’s and mother’s side, Richard Symington has meticulously compiled his findings of all English/British individuals since the 12th century with an Oporto connection into a “forest”
of family trees.
Keen to share this information online, the Oporto British Forest site offers free lists of categorised information to download. Members can access the full Forest database upon registration.
The Forest continues to be added to periodically.
First-hand research
The Oporto Symington family tree dating back to the time of Robert the Bruce
His cousin, Mark Stilwell, in respect of the family of Richard's mother, Eleanor French (1928-1986), and of the Stilwell family in Lisbon, into which her sister married
Enquiry of living individuals, not least his father, Bob Symington OBE (b. 1931)
Books
“Oporto Old and New” by Charles Sellers
“They Went to Portugal” by Rose Macaulay
“They Went to Portugal Too” by Rose Macaulay
“Port” by Rupert Croft-Cooke
“Oporto Older and Newer” by Gerald Cobb
“The English in Portugal 1367-87” by Fernao Lopes, translated by Derek W Lomax & R J Oakley (1988)
“English Art in Portugal” by Alice Berkeley and Susan Lowndes
Websites
Symington Family Estates - www.symington.com
Annual Reports of the British Historical Society of Portugal - www.bhsportugal.org
The Dictionary of National Biography - www.oxforddnb.com/
History of Parliament Online - www.historyofparliamentonline.org
Various genealogy websites, in particular www.ancestry.co.uk, and also www.wikisource.org, www.findmypast.co.uk, www.genealogy.com, www.familysearch.org, www.geni.com, www.geneall.net, www.genesreunited.co.uk, www.geneanet.org and www.myheritage.com
Arquivo Municipal do Porto: http://gisaweb.cm-porto.pt/units-of-
description/series/40081/documents/?q
Extensive further online research
The Forest includes the names and details of:
Individuals and, where the information is available, their spouses and their parents
British Royalty and Foreign Royalty
English/British consuls in Oporto since Walter Maynard’s time (17th C)
English Anglican Chaplains in Oporto since the 17th century
Other English/British Religious individuals in Oporto
Famous, eminent and/or exceptional British individuals who had/ have a connection with Oporto
British authors, poets and artists who had/have a connection with Oporto
Oporto British individuals who have died in action or from wounds sustained in action, or otherwise as a result of military conflict
British individuals of note or interest who had a connection with Oporto, and/or are linked to a curious, unusual or historically important event, or an interesting anecdote (however tenuous or
albeit unwittingly)
People in Oporto of nationalities other than British and Portuguese, for example, Spanish, Dutch, Irish, German, French, Italian and American, where they are connected in one way or another with a British individual or family
The Forest, compiled by Richard Symington, has been
prepared on the basis of information obtained from: