Wow! Thank you very much, Siles! This will help a lot in my family research.
Also, when I first researched Fondra when I got into genealogy years ago, I found that the name of the hamlet comes from the Latin
fundere, referring to the historical mining and foundry-working of the area. Below is what two sites can tell me about the history of Fondra:
A Venetian origin (subsequently emigrating from Venice or Genoa) for Fundora and my earliest paternal family is consistent with the historical Italian immigration to Cuba. The first Italians came to Cuba with the Spanish conquistadores after Columbus discovered it in 1492. Most were missionaries and the rest were soldiers of fortune. It can be assumed that most of these Italians were Genoese due to Columbus being Genoese and their favorable position with the Spaniards (especially since in 1528 its new constitution made it a satellite of the Spanish Empire). Later, in 1605, shipwrecked Italian sailors (Genoese and Venetian) founded Mantua, Cuba on the far west side of the island (Pinar del Rio Province) - interestingly, there are localities in this area named Fundora, including a known tobacco farm owned by a Fundora family in Dimas, not too far away from Mantua, that was bought in 1958 and made the basis for the U.S. Taino Cigar company. The only other Italian immigration movements occurred in the mid-1850s, which is too late in terms of my family records. Another possible route is from the Canary Islands. Conquistador Alonso Fernández de Lugo "
oversaw extension immigration to Tenerife and La Palma during a short period from the late 1490s to the 1520s from mainland Europe, and immigrants included Castilians, Portuguese, Italians, Catalans, Basques, and Flemings. At subsequent judicial enquiries, Fernández de Lugo was accused of favoring Genoese and Portuguese immigrants over Castilians." (wiki)
On another note, does this mean that, due to the distribution of L446, the French-Catalán origin for Fundora is less likely?