Aguiar

It is a very old surname on this island. The first person to use it here was Diogo Afonso de Aguiar, one of the four nobles sent by King Afonso V to marry the daughters of João Gonçalves Zarco. Some genealogists claim he was the son of José Afonso de Aguiar, the first treasurer of the Lisbon mint, while others say he was the son of Pedro de Aguiar. His brother, named Pedro Afonso de Aguiar, was the chief shipbuilder of the kingdom and commander of the Order of Christ. Diogo Afonso de Aguiar married D. Isabel Gonçalves da Câmara, the third daughter of Zarco, as stated by Henrique Henriques de Noronha in the Nobiliário, "the dowry I saw was made in the year 1439." He was the father of Rui Dias de Aguiar and D. Nuno de Aguiar, bishop of Ceuta and Tangier. (See these names) The Aguiars had as their coat of arms an eagle on a red field adorned with black, extended, and also another eagle.