Henri PORTAZ (ID #I7170)
(male)- TITLES/'DIT' NAMES/OCCUPATIONS: notary, etc.
- BAPTISM: 12 FEB 1649, Cully, Vaud, Switzerland
- DEATH: 11 FEB 1721, Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
Mother: Claudine de Palézieux dit FALCONNET (dates unknown)
Family 1 : Elizabeth DE DIESBACH (b. 1652, d. 18 MAR 1720)
- +Daniel PORTAZ (d. 10 OCT 1750)
- Magdelaine PORTAZ (dates unknown)
- +David PORTAZ (d. 1764)
- +David Benjamin PORTAZ (dates unknown)
- Jeanne Françoise PORTAZ (dates unknown)
- Elizabeth Catherine PORTAZ (dates unknown)
- Rose PORTAZ (dates unknown)
His notarial registers from 1669-1720 have survived, and include the marriage contract of his niece Judith Dutoit and David Bergier, 1701. By 1704, he is described in the records of other notaries as "Lieutenant de la Cour et Juridiction du Jadis Chapitre de Lausanne", and it is apparent that he acted as an officer of that court, which had taken over judicial functions for an area formerly controlled by the Bishop of Lausanne before the Bernese occupation.
The surname is most often spelled Portaz in the 17th and 18th Century, but sometimes Porta. In more recent times it has settled on Porta.
After his baptism at Cully, Henri's next mention in the records at Cully seems to be 09 feb 1668, when he was one of the sponsors at the baptism of Jean Henri, son of Jaques Joran and Jaqueline Portaz (Henri's sister).
He was admitted to the bourgoisie of Lausanne on 26 apr 1688, as the following extract from the records of the city of Lausanne shows:
Bourgeoisie.
Jeudi 26 Apvril 1688.
Egrege et prudent Henry Portaz fils de feu Sr. Jean Portaz de Culli pretendant estre Bourgeois de ceste Ville pour se croire desscendre de Saturnin Portaz receue a Bourgeoisie l'an 1574, Mais n'ayant en cest (?) bien esclairci et Justifié sa desscendance, Nous n'avons pas cependant Jugé a propose d'entrer avec luy [un] proceds qui pourroit Causer de grands frais au public, mais avons mieux aimé pour l'Eviter la Recepvoir comme nous faisons presentement et admettrons a Nouveau Bourgeois pour Luy et ses successeurs legittimes et ce tant de Grace Speciale et pour plusieurs preignantes et legittimes Considerations que pour et moyennant la Somme de deux Cents et cinquante florins pp. applicables à l'achet de brochets de Cuir pour servir contre les dangers de feu, Oultre un grant d'isseu (?) des droits pour chacun des Assistans, Soubs les conditions portées et contenues aux Reglemens de cette Chambre fait le 20 8bre 1657 concernant les charges, Item qu'il apportera acte des Srs. ses freres comme ils renonceroient a toutes pretentions a cette Bourgeoisie, et qu'ils ne la recercherent Jamais n'y les leurs avenir pour n'est avoir a present aucun legittime fondement puis que la present concession faitte a leur frere n'est que gratuite et particulliere a luy seul et aux siens, sans qu'elle puisse estre tirée de Consequence pour qui que ce soit.
Ce qu'il a promis d'effectué en dhue forme le 1 May et en meme temps presté le serment requis et payé tout le prix deditte passation livré a Monsr. le Maisonneur comme aussi les Droits de la Chambre a Monsr. le Boursier.
[Marginal notation: Il a masles Daniel, David.]
From this, we see that Henri believed, or at least claimed, to descend from Saturnin Portaz, who appears in the earliest church records at Lausanne. The document also establishes that Henri's father was Jean Portaz of Cully.
An old genealogy of this family is found in a discussion of the Swiss descendants of Dom Antonio I, Prieur de Crato, King of Portugal (A. de Faria, "Descendance de D. Antonio I, Prieur de Crato, XVIIIe roi de Portugal," Archives Héraldiques Suisses 21:39-67, 1907). Antonio's claim to the throne of Portugal was not widely recognized, and he spent much of his life in Paris, where he died in 1595, leaving six sons and four daughters. Of these, Don Emmanuel de Portugal (1568-1638), a colorful character in his own right, married Emilie de Nassau, princess of Orange. They separated, and princess Emilie settled in Geneva. She later acquired the barony of Prangins, near Nyon. Her daughter Maria Belgia or Maria Belgica was thus raised near Nyon and became the bride of Johann Theodore de Croll (or Groll or Kroll), a soldier from Heidelberg. It is the descendants of this marriage who are the subject of the account by de Faria. Among them was Adrienne de Martines, who married David Benjamin Porta. Unfortunately, de Faria used a system of Roman numerals and typefaces to indicate the generations of the descendants, making it extremely difficult to follow the information. He does not give a source, but much of the information can be matched with what we have been able to tease out of the primary sources.
_Clément PORTAZ _____+
| (.... - 1630)
_Regnier PORTAZ ____________________|
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_Jean PORTAZ _________________________|
| (1615 - 1656) m 1647 |
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|--Henri PORTAZ
| (.... - 1721)
| _____________________
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| _Jaques de Palézieux dit FALCONNET _|
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| | |_____________________
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|_Claudine de Palézieux dit FALCONNET _|
m 1647 |
| _____________________
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|____________________________________|
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