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Agustino Gracis is regarded in our family records as the earliest known ancestor and the root of our family tree. According to these accounts, he was a Madeiran who later traveled to British Guiana as an indentured servant. However, the surname Gracis is a rare name more commonly associated with Northern Italy, which raises several questions. Is it possible that his surname was recorded incorrectly? Could his original name have been something entirely different, or might it have been misspelled in records that were later passed down through the family?

I found this photograph on Ancestry.com, where it appeared in an album alongside images of known family members directly related to Augustinho Thomas Gonsalves, including his son Edward. Given the apparent age of the photograph and the presence of the Gonsalves name on the shop shown, I inferred that it may depict a store in Guyana once owned by members of our family. However, beyond its inclusion among photos of known relatives and the appearance of the Gonsalves name on the shop, there is no explicit information in the original Ancestry.com post confirming that the business was in fact owned by this branch of the Gonsalves family. If you an confirm it is (or show that it is not), that would be great!