Overview: This non-profit family history website records what we have found out (1) about our Baruch Lousada ancestors. They were part of the Sephardic diaspora, in which the 1492 Spanish expulsion of unbaptised Jews led to some 60,000 leaving Spain. Half of them crossed into Portugal where they greatly outnumbered the local Jews. Those who went elsewhere, like the Ottoman Empire, were spared the nasty surprise awaiting Portuguese Jews who in 1497 were baptized against their will. Thus these Jews, mostly Spanish in origin, were obliged to live for generations as Portuguese New Christians. Some appeared in Portuguese colonies and trading centres like Antwerp but many had little chance to leave until 1580 (2), the year Portugal united with Spain (3). We have found only one hint (4) as to the Spanish origin of the Baruch Lousadas and no hint as to their travel to Portugal in 1492-3, but some detail of their stay in northern Portugal emerges from two encounters with the Coimbra Inquisition. Something of their departure from Portugal is also known, and it seems to have been in stages - some left and some stayed at each stage (5). Today the Judaism (6) which propelled this story is barely evident in the family and its Jewishness (7) is much diluted. All known ancestors can be found in our genealogies, but whether their more recent stories are found on this website depends on whether or not relevant family contributors came forward (8).

The Baruch Lousada mini-diaspora: Amador de Lousada, a shoemaker in the Portuguese town of Vinhais, was imprisoned by the Coimbra Inquisition in 1590-1 (9). He was born in 1540 to parents Pedro de Lousada and Briatis Alvares (10) . Some of his offspring stayed in Vinhais, but others joined the post-1580 New Christian exodus to Spain. Around 1638 (11) Amador's son Isaac #42 married into a grouping of New Christian families which had been in Madrid for a decade or two. Isaac #42 was the first Baruch Lousada to exit Iberia, for in 1640, the year Portugal seceded from Spain, he was in the port of Livorno (36). The Spanish Inquisition was unshackled in 1643 with the fall of d'Olivares, so Isaac's wealthy nephew on his wife's side Tomas Rodrigues Pereira left Madrid, and then from 1645 lived an active Jewish life in Amsterdam as Abraham Israel Pereira. The next known Lousada exit was made by Moses Baruh Lousada #46, appearing in Amsterdam during 1649-59 (12). This was a tumultuous time, for by 1654 Portugal recaptured Dutch Brazil and expelled its Jews, and the push by the Dutch to establish new sugar-producing colonies was eagerly supported by the Amsterdam and Livorno Jewish communities. During the 1655-9 period, the Baruch Lousadas experienced an amazing transformation. Putting Madrid and Livorno behind them, and despite Anglo-Dutch tensions, they emerged as planters and merchants in the English sugar island of Barbados from 1659 (13) and as merchants (14) in London from 1660. Then in 1662 Isaac #42 appeared in Amsterdam plus his son Jacob #1388 from London, and from 1672 another son David #44 from Barbados. In the prospective sugar province of Surinam (15) Isaac's son Moses #1585 appeared in 1671. From Barbados the Baruch Lousadas reached Curacao around 1685 and from Curacao they re-established themselves in Surinam. In 1698 the 3rd Lousada exit from Iberia occurred, this time from those remaining in Portugal, heading for London then New England. Meanwhile from Barbados Jamaica was reached (16) around 1705, from where in 1743 the Baruch Lousadas re-established themselves in England. People carrying the Baruch Lousada name (19) were continuously present in Livorno until 1700 (17), Amsterdam until 1739 (18), Jamaica until 1808, Curacao until 1816, Barbados until 1831, and Surinam until 1912. We have mapped this mini-diaspora and show a corresponding family tree; we also chart the first Baruch Lousadas in 6 of their early destinations. Their name can still be found in England, the USA (19), Australia and The Netherlands..

The Barrows: Not all the Baruch Lousadas left Livorno with Isaac #42. Those who remained gave rise to the Tunis Baruch Lousadas, who settled permanently in Tunis around 1700 (20). In addition it seems that one of the remaining Baruch Lousadas married an Ashkenasi man named Baruch, though not in Livorno (21). This gave rise to the Barrows in the form of their son Simon 1709-1801 who married Bailah Montefiore 1720-73 and then settled in Barbados before 1759 (22). Baruch's offspring dispersed - some to central Europe (23) while a sister accompanied Simon (24). On Barbados, Simon's Ashkenasi name of 'Simon bar Baruch' was anglicized to 'Simon Barrow' and hence our 'Barrow' surname derives from him and not from the Baruch Lousadas (25). Simon's 1st son Baruch and later son Joseph found Sephardic spouses in Barbados which linked them with the local Baruch Lousadas, and a 1785 Sephardic marriage in London linked his 4th son Jacob #60. With Isaac Baruh Lousada #34 Jacob developed the Barrow & Lousada business which lasted for about 50 years accompanied by 2 Barrow/Baruh Lousada marriages. In the first of these marriages Jacob #60's daughter Bella married Isaac #34's 2nd son Moses Baruh Lousada #32 at Bevis Marks in 1806. The Ashkenasi link was renewed at Bevis Marks in 1808 when Bella's brother Simon Barrow of Bath married the 4th daughter of the wealthy diamond merchant Baron Lyon de Symons (26). Meanwhile on Barbados in 1797 a daughter Judith Joseph Levi of (Simon's youngest daughter) Eve Barrow had married Eliezer Montefiore thereby giving rise to the Barrow Montefiores and in the next generation the Levi Montefiores. After his wife died in 1828, Simon Barrow of Bath converted to Christianity, enabling him to enter politics and to place his sons in the Army, the Anglican Church, the law and medicine; many Barrows saw Army and Civil service in India and China. Finally in 1832, his 1st daughter Tryphena had a Christian marriage with her cousin John (27); they lived in Peak House. Today, the Barrow name appears in England, Kenya, Canada and Barbados (28).

The Lousada Dukes: Kinship with the nobility of the Iberian Peninsula was commonly claimed by Sephardic Jews and the Curiel family is a proven case (ref 35). Curiel ancestry, with its link to the last Visigothic Kings and to the Portuguese ruling family, was inherited by the Baruch Lousadas through the Lamegos, but the Curiel noble descent was illegitimate. After 1834 (29), a Spanish herald was hired to explore noble Baruch Lousada descent in Spain and he identified the vacant title of the Duque de Losada as being of interest, as its 'Losada' name was the Spanish equivalent of the Portuguese 'Lousada' or 'Louzada', and it was very grand. The Spanish herald then produced a set of lurid, expensively-looking but specious documents enabling the Baruch Lousadas to hold themselves out as successors to the Duque de Losada. Isaac the first 'successor' may have been passive, but his first son Emanuel lost little time making himself known as the Duke de Losada y Lousada (30) after Isaac died in 1857. Because Emanuel left in his papers a handwritten draft of a Burke's Peerage entry, and there is evidence of the fee Emanuel paid to Burke, we consider he was a prime mover in the whole exercise. Explaining his link to the Duque posed a quasi-genealogical question impossible to answer (31). No doubt there was reward to compensate for the expenses and difficulties; Emanuel was granted an official British passport in 1862 and three further Lousada Dukes assumed the title. Further, but more subtly, though the title was Italian and the Dukes never officially had it (32), in effect no-one else was eligible either (33). Most people overlooked the Dukes' peculiar change of name, hybrid coat of arms and lack of official authentication; so the affectionate regard some members of the family held for the Dukes was undisturbed, while Sir Anthony Baruh Lousada even dared to resume Emanuel's Quixotic struggle with that quasi-genealogical question when he claimed to be related to the Duque de Losada! The problems did not go entirely unnoticed however, for as one of Isaac's own descendants reported, the title was not officially recognised by Buckingham Palace; but even this caveat was overlooked when - in the 1920s - Hungary allowed a Dirsztay to formally use the 'de Losada' title (34).

  Geography and family links: The Baruch Lousadas and the Sephardic families with which they intermarried gave many people to the Portuguese branches of the Sephardic diaspora, especially the branch involving a brief return to Spain from Portugal and then conversion back to Judaism elsewhere. Amsterdam became the key haven for Sephardic Jews, and during 1659-99 it was the focus of the Atlantic trade for the Baruch Lousadas; they and many other such families - the Dutch Sephardim - thereby made their contribution to a golden age for Amsterdam (35). The Caribbean region was crucial and in Barbados the Baruch Lousadas renewed their link to the Barrows as did the Montefiores. Livorno saw the Baruh Lousada, Mocatta, Montefiore and Franco families who later came together in England; while Livorno also seems to have been integral to the first Barrow link with the Montefiores and before that to their origin with the Baruch Lousadas. Geographic dispersal post-Iberia thus led to significant family links. But for our story the most fundamental influence on the Baruch Lousada diaspora occurred before leaving Iberia - the important set of connections Isaac #42 obtained for his family by his 1638 Madrid marriage (11). It is to these connections that we look to explain mysteries like Isaac's move to Livorno around 1640 (36), the key move to Barbados via the marriages of David Raphael de Mercado to Gracia Baruch Lousada #43, and also that of David Baruch Lousada #44 to Hannah Montezinos (13). And Moses #46, in the early years of the resettlement of Jews in England, was prominent almost certainly a result of his new Madrid cousin Abraham Israel Pereira in Amsterdam being a key financier of Menasseh ben Israel the leader of the push for English resettlement (37). Finally, an astonishing set of 5 marriages with the Lamegos (38) took the Baruch Lousadas to Jamaica and thence to England where the Lopes Pereira marriages then took place (39). Not long after 1492, the Duoro valley of northern Portugal was the home of the Lamego and the Lopes Pereira families (40). One of the Portuguese Lousada villages close to the Duoro is the probable source (41) of our Lousada name, though the ancestral Baruch Lousadas probably spent only a generation there before moving on to Braganza, Vinhais, Villaflor, Madrid, Livorno and so on. Our concluding thoughts may be found here.

Footnotes to the above synopsis:

1. Some of our motivation for this research can be found here, and a summary of where the research got to may be found here.

2. The Sephardic Diaspora was given impetus by the Portuguese and Spanish Inquisitions, in that reluctant or insincere New Christians in the Iberian World when exposed to an Inquisitional threat could sometimes avoid the threat by moving elsewhere. By the late 1580s the Portuguese Inquisition proved it could systematically track down insincere New Christians almost anywhere in Portugal so the post-1580 opportunity to leave its Portuguese jurisdiction for the relative anonymity of Spain was timely.

3. During the 1580-1640 union of Spain and Portugal, the Portuguese New Christians came to thoroughly infiltrate the entire Spanish trading system. Examples from the Baruch Lousada story are Tomas Rodrigues Pereira, Fernando Montezinos and Manuel Rodrigues Lamego, whose families each held valuable contracts under the Spanish Crown. They were also linked to the asientos of wealthy Portuguese whose participation the Count-Duke d'Olivares secured to reform the financing of Spanish military operations in the Netherlands. This financing is analyzed in ref 23, while ref 70 explains the desire of d'Olivares to support a declining Spain with the burgeoning financial power of the Portuguese New Christians. As discussed in ref 123, the financing ultimately but inadvertently facilitated the exit to Amsterdam of around 50 Portuguese New Christian families with much of their Spanish wealth - Tomas Rodrigues Pereira led one such family, and his descendants married members of the Antwerp branch of the de Pintos, another such family! Fernando Montezinos escaped Madrid for Antwerp (where he died though was re-interred in Amsterdam), but his Portuguese New Christian relatives remained influential in Spain until the end of the 17th century. Manuel Rodrigues Lamego is unknown after 1631 (ref 30) though his brother Antonio and nephews were in Rouen (see ref 357 for example) for a generation or two until the family later moved to Bordeaux.

4. It is uncorroborated, but probably comes from Emanuel #135 reflecting family legend he grew up with. Go here to note 6.

5. The Baruch Lousada departure from Portugal was not however the same as that of other similar families, for the times and routes chosen depended on each family's international links. This general point is made in ref 297, which surveys the origins of Amsterdam's Sephardic Jews. Isaac #42's 1640 departure from Madrid for Livorno followed his marriage link with Abraham Israel Pereira around 1638, and the appearance of Abraham #1875 in Amsterdam placed his descendants in the orbit of Jacob Israel Pereira (12). The 1649 appearance of Moses #46 in Rouen and/or Amsterdam suggests a link with Fernando Montezinos (37) who was linked with Abraham Israel Pereira in Madrid and subsequently. However, the 1645 appearance in Bayonne (ref 380) and the 1698 departure from Portugal of Jacob #740 and Abraham #435 may have been independent of the Madrid connections. See the last paragraph in the synopsis above for our account of how family connections shaped the Baruch Lousada mini-diaspora.

6. Using 'Judaism' in the religious sense.

7. Using 'Jewishness' in the ethnic sense.

8. Many such contributors indeed came forward. For instance, reflecting the Australian origin of the builder of this website, we explore the early history of the Australian Lousadas, especially of Edward Charles Lousada and his brother Howel, and their link via Peak House to their ancestors. Relatives came to Australia (their history linking with the Rum Rebellion, the start of South Australia and the ANZ Bank, and the Victorian gold rushes) and we depict the early Australian Lousadas with these Barrow, Barrow Montefiore, Levi Montefiore and Mocatta relatives.

9. He was found guilty of judaizing and sentenced to perpetual penitence. This and other data was extracted from the Inquisitional record by Fernando Gonzalez del Campo Roman (ref 180). The 4 youngest sons of Amador were Antonio, Diogo, Francisco and Pedro and while we do not know their Jewish names we have inferred that they became known in later records as Abraham #2149 (Livorno and father of Moses #46 of London), David #1584 (who died early after fathering Aaron #376 of Barbados and Abraham #1875 of Amsterdam), Isaac #42 (of Madrid, Livorno and Amsterdam) and Moses #1419 (London). Amador's eldest son Fernando was born in Braganza, and Fernando's family was imprisoned and tried by the Coimbra Inquisition in the period 1657-63.

10. Probably the offspring of Spanish Jews displaced to Portugal by the 1492 expulsion. Pedro may have been baptized in Lousada.

11. It seems likely that Isaac #42 and his brothers David #1584 and Abraham #2149 had 3 marriages with the Henriques Faro family in the 1620s, one of which was Isaac's marriage with David's widow. After this, the Henriques Faros had 2 or 3 marriages with the Rodrigues Pereiras who, like the Henriques Faros came from Villaflor. It is not known which if any of these marriages was in Madrid, for many of them could have been in Villaflor, but around 1638 Isaac #42 married a young aunt of Tomas Rodrigues Pereira almost certainly in Madrid. This was a crucial link for the Baruch Lousadas which facilitated their exit from Spain. Their prior Henriques Faros link presumably came about through agricultural product trading - of course the de Lousadas would have needed leather for shoemaking. However we have not yet proved that Julian Henriques, who was involved in wool buying for Fernando Montezinos and presumably Tomas Rodrigues Pereira, was a member of the Henriques Faro family. The 1657 Madrid will of Antonio de Lousada, a nephew of Isaac #42, assists a little here. It shows that his parents, Isaac's sister Isabel #1783 and Pedro Rodrigues, remained in Vinhais. Though it is not known how Pedro was related to the Rodrigues Pereiras from Villaflor, perhaps Antonio's journey from Vinhais to Madrid was via Villaflor and copied his uncle's!

12. Moses #46 was Isaac's nephew. He regularly appeared in Amsterdam from 1649, when he was aged 20, until he moved to London in 1660, after which he is known to have been in Amsterdam only twice. He lived in France, since that is where he moved to London from, most likely Rouen. There he may have served as an agent of the Pereiras to assist their Canaries trade which was part-dependent on French linen (ref 381). The departure of Isaac's stepson Abraham #1875, the source of the Den Haag Louzadas, could have been earlier. He may also have served the Pereiras as an agent, and travelled for them a great deal which might account for the fact that his only record is that of his 1676 death in Amsterdam.

13. Isaac's stepson Aaron #376 was the first-known Baruch Lousada in Barbados though almost certainly Isaac's daughter Gracia #43 arrived at the same time. David Raphael de Mercado first appeared in Barbados in 1655, having left Dutch Brazil in 1654 and travelled via Amsterdam and London, but it seems that he married Gracia #43 in the 1658-9 period - perhaps in Rouen - as part of an arrangement which brought her brothers and half-brothers into the Mercado business in Barbados (plus of course London and Amsterdam). David #44 was also a half-brother of Gracia #43, and did not appear in Barbados until 1664, but brought with him a wife - the widowed Hannah Montezinos - who however did not survive long as David #44 had marriages in Amsterdam in 1673 and 1677. David #44 seems to have been replaced in Barbados by his brother Abraham #45 and later his stepson Jacob #711. Abraham #1352 also appeared from London (14).

14. Moses #46 (12) and Isaac's son Jacob #1388 first appeared in London in 1660. They were in the vanguard of the English re-settlement of Jews, and later Isaac's probable brother Moses #1419 appeared briefly in 1677 but is known only by his death in that year. Abraham #1352 (son of Moses #46) was in London until 1681, whereupon he moved to Barbados, while Abraham #45 the son of Isaac #42 made the reverse trip, moving from Barbados to London by 1695!

15. It was English but became Dutch in 1667.

16. The latter movement now much clarified.

17. Only to reappear in 1820, but the origin of these late arrivals is not known - perhaps returning to Livorno from Tunis.

18. But continuing without the 'Baruch' name until 1788 - these last survivors were what we have termed the Den Haag Louzadas - see note 12.

19. Many variants of the name occurred in historic times - 'Lousada' appears in the records also as Louzada (still the case in The Netherlands today), Luzado, Lossada, Losada, Losado, Louisada, Luzada etc while 'Baruch' appeared as Baruh (especially in England), Barugh, Barukh, Barogh, Barak etc. In the USA can be found further variations - Leuzarder, Luzarder, Lewsader, Luzader, Luzadder etc. The name 'Luzzarto' which appeared in the Venice ghetto appears to be a reference to the central European province of Lusatia, variously in Germany and Poland.

20. We have had initial contact from a descendant.

21. The marriage was not listed in ref 319, and presumably took place in some city other than Livorno. Milan is suggested by the fact that Moritz Baruh of Timisoara #1191, whom we identify as a brother of Simon Barrow of Barbados #64 and Gedalia bar Baruch of Prague #986, is shown in ref 31 as having a wife Baroness Sarah Todesco of Milan. However, Venice is also a candidate being closer to Prague (see ref 379) and a likely place for Baruch and hence Gedalia to acquire glazier skills.

22. Probably linked with the settling in London of Moses Vita Montefiore in 1752.

23. Simon's brother Gedalia went to Prague, and another brother Moses seems to have gone to Timisoara in the wake of its recapture in 1716 by the Austro-Hungarian Empire after 164 years of Ottoman rule. Simon died in Barbados aged 92, and outlived his brothers, but 'children' of Gedalia appear in Simon's will.

24. Her name is unknown but her husband was Isaac Levi, and we suggest his full name was Isaac Levi Sonsino of a Livorno family which like the Francos established a branch in London at about the same time. Simon's sister was an ancestor of the Barrow Montefiores and the Levi Montefiores.

25 . Confusingly, the Baruch Lousadas a century earlier in London and Barbados, sometimes also used the 'Barrow' surname!

26. To whom Simon Barrow of Bath was probably already related.

27. Born Jacob in 1809, the 2nd son of Bella Barrow and Moses Baruch Lousada #32, named after the maternal grandfather Jacob Barrow #60.

28. It may be that some of the present-day Barrows of Barbados descend not from Simon Barrow and Bailah Montefiore but from the local Baruch Lousadas!

29. After the end of the Spanish Inquisition in 1834, pursuit of noble descent in Spain would no longer threaten relatives having New Christian ancestry.

30. On this peculiar name-change see here (note 9).

31. There is no logic to explain how the Dukes inherited - in Spain - a moribund Italian title that had been held by a non-relative. Therefore the ingenious explanation involving a 1759 'remainder' we found in a nobility authority demonstrated little but the creative power of the Spanish herald, the gullibility of the authority and the audacity of Emanuel himself! 

32. As discussed here, our commissioned research found an 1861 letter from Emanuel's herald in Madrid's Justice Ministry Archives requesting a copy and translation of the title deeds. Of course, the obvious inference of Emanuel #93 seeking a copy of the title deeds is that he lacked them - that is, the title was never officially granted to his ancestors. Accordingly the letter, though a testament to the herald's creative power and no doubt intended to elicit some useable response from the Spanish authorities, was a double-edged sword. In addition to our negative inference, it contained the absurd fabrication that an ancestor of Emanuel (somewhat plausibly named Manuel) was Sumiller de Corps to Carlos 3 in Italy. The absurdity is apparent from the fact that Carlos 3, who became King of the Two Sicilies in 1735 and King of Spain in 1759 had Don Jose Fernandez Miranda y Saavedra continuously by his side from 1731 in Madrid, through their entire 1735-59 Naples period during which Don Jose was made Duque de Losada in 1741 and Sumiller de Corps in 1749, and then again in Madrid as Sumiller de Corps from 1759 until Don Jose's death in 1783. Protocol demanded that a Sumiller de Corps had the grand title of Duque (or exceptionally Marquis), which Don Jose being only a 2nd son of a Marquis did not have. So in Naples Carlos 3 created one for him in 1741 making Don Jose the inaugural (and only) Duque de Losada!

33. This was discovered by the unsuccessful Madrid claimants of 1915 and 1969 - even though they were related to the Duque which is more than can be said for the Dukes!

34. This Hungarian footnote to the story of the Lousada Dukes is fascinating for it suggests that the Dirsztays had Baruch Lousada ancestry via an early Barrow and it also shows a link to the 5th and last Lousada Duke!

35. Later, Amsterdam became a stepping stone for Ashkenasi Jews coming to England; by 1800 Ashkenasi families had began to intermarry with the established Sephardim - and the Lyon de Symons, Keyser and Goldsmid families thus appear in the Barrow and Lousada family trees as did the Rothschilds in the Montefiore family tree (ref 283).

36. Undoubtedly Isaac #42 was keen to seize an early opportunity to return to Judaism, for he quickly joined the Livorno Jewish community. In 1641 and 1642 Isaac #42 participated in Synagogue elections when he was noted as living in the house of his uncle Abraham Levi Lousada. However, by this migration he ensured that the family participated in Livorno's early growth and perhaps in this way Isaac's recent 2nd marriage assisted his new nephew Tomas Rodrigues Pereira move wealth out of Spain. In Livorno Isaac met up with his probable brother Abraham #2149, both of whom seem to have previously married Henriques Faro wives (see note 11 above). Isaac's daughter Rachel married Abraham's son Isaac in 1643, one of many cousin-cousin marriages in the family. Abraham #2149 appears to have been the father of Moses #46 who was prominent in the new London Jewish community from 1660 (and who had 2 Henriques Faro wives). But Isaac #42 moved to Amsterdam by 1662 where he died 5 years later.

37. The other 2 members of the 1st Bevis Marks Mahamad also had a close connection with Abraham Israel Pereira. Community leader David Abravanel was close to Menasseh ben Israel, some suggesting he was a brother-in-law. Elias de Lima was probably a brother-in-law of Abraham Israel Pereira whose Hamburg brother Alsonso #1890, who died in Amsterdam as Jacob in 1681, was married to Deborah de Lima.

38. The Rouen Lamegos had a trade connection with Fernando Montezinos - who left Madrid in 1657 but was one of the Villaflor New Christians who like Abraham Pereira was in Madrid during the reign of Phillip 4.

39. The Lopes Pereira marriages did not come entirely out of the blue either - Baron Moses d'Aguilar shared with Joseph Israel Pereira #2582 (a grandson of Abraham Israel Pereira) a da Fonseca / Querido marriage link going back to Dutch Brazil.

40. And also the Carvajal family, perhaps from Cordoba, which figures in the Montefiore story.

41. Rather than the Spanish towns and villages named Lousada (in Galicia) and Losada (in Asturias/Leon).