similarly, it is unclear the names of the first settlers to colonize the island, although around 1450 the first colonists were probably slaves (but formal registries did not exist at the time). the first group of settlers of note to be mentioned were led by vasco gil sodré, a former resident of montemor-o-velho, who arrived from terceira accompanied by his family and servants around the middle of the 1450s. it was this pioneer who inaugurated the official phase of continuous settlement on the island.