In this fourth episode of Season Ten, host Andrew Martin has another dual guest episode that’s also a sibling episode – brothers Roberto and Ramón Parra who as Parra Genealogía, focus on researching family history in Mexico. They explain how they got interested in researching family history, attitudes to genealogy and DNA testing in Mexico, and what it’s like to work with your brother.
Listen to the episode
https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1712992.rssAlso available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, and others…
The Life Story – Florencio Pérez Comoto
Ramón and Roberto have chosen to tell the life story of Florencio Pérez Comoto – the son-in-law of their 5x Great Grandfather.
Florencio was born around 1775 in Cádiz in Andalucía, Spain, and when he graduated from medical training, he headed over to Nueva España (part of which is now modern Mexico) and settled in Veracruz. He worked as a military medical doctor and after arriving he found himself deep in epidemiology. After Edward Jenner’s discovery of using cowpox to vaccinate against smallpox, Florencio ended up leading the efforts of vaccination against the spread of a deadly smallpox epidemic in his region of Mexico, and encouraging people to get vaccinated.
Florencio’s work is a success, but when Mexico gains Independence in 1821, he and his family flee back to Spain.
The Brick Wall – Florencio Pérez Comoto
It’s a research brick wall that continues on from their Life Story choice Florencio Pérez Comoto, that has Roberto and Ramón asking for help.
Whilst Florencio and some of his sons (especially Joaquín Pérez Comoto) were writers, translators, and poets. However, Roberto and Ramón have yet to find anything biographical about his life that covers the period during the smallpox epidemic and his family’s fleeing back to Spain after the Declaration of Mexico’s Independence in 1821.
Can you help Roberto and Ramón find writings from this time?
If you think that you can help with a research idea or a clue to help bring their brick wall down, then you can contact them via their Parra Genealogía website, or alternatively, you can send us a message and we’ll pass it along.
In the meantime, Roberto and Ramón are keen to accept Andrew’s offer of help, but it’s all a matter of timing…
Episode Credits
- Andrew Martin – Host and Producer
- Roberto Parra – Guest
- Ramón Parra – Guest