Welcome to my Online Home

A snapshot of the past and the present.

Alexandra was born in London to Portuguese parents and currently lives in Central London.

At 17 she was offered a position as Branch Assistant for a Building Society in North London so she decided to leave full time education to go into banking.  It was only in her 30s that she decided to return to education to update her skills and explore other avenues.

After completing a Legal Secretarial Course and a Paralegal Course at Southwark College, Alexandra went on to study at the London Metropolitan University where she achieved an LL.B Law degree.

Following this, she attended the College of Law in Bloomsbury where she completed a Legal Practice Course; Legal Aid Route, and then went on to achieve a 2:1 in her LL.M Law postgraduate degree.

It was during the early part of her undergraduate course that she saw an advert on the bus recruiting for magistrates. Curious to find out what life was like on the bench, she applied for the post and to her surprise she was accepted.  She was sworn in at the Old Bailey in December 2005.

In 2007 she joined the Family Court Panel and in 2008 the Youth Court.  She briefly sat on appeals at the Old Bailey in 2009.  Alexandra continues to sit as a Magistrate at the Adult, Youth and Family Courts.

In 2010 Alexandra became a Member of the Farringdon Ward Club, and has been on their Committee since 2015. She obtained her Freedom of the City in 2010 and is a Member of the Guild of Freemen since 2011.

Alexandra enjoys socialising and is currently the Chair of the Central London Bench Social Committee.  In addition to her voluntary posts, Alexandra works for two Housing Co-operatives, and has held several posts there since joining them in 2009.

Alexandra has been working on several projects, her aim is to combine her love of history, law and travel and connecting them with her Portuguese heritage and her love for England.

LEITORIO is an online directory listing Portuguese speaking lawyers from several Portuguese speaking countries.  It is free to use and free for lawyers to join.
www.leitorio.net

LEIRISMO is a site containing bite size information on two important Queen consorts, linking the historical importance between Portugal and England and the benefits they brought to each other’s kingdoms.  It also highlights several important Treaties and Legislation of that era. In addition to the legal and historical aspect, and the connection between the two nations, the website also suggests possible places to visit for those coming to London.
www.desousaonline.net/leirismo

KIDS LOVE are two personal photo albums of time spent with family.  Both England and Portugal have many great places to take kids too. Kids Love Portugal and Kids Love England aims to highlight and encourage tourism in parts of the country that do not always get into the tourism brochures.
www.desousaonline.net/kidslove

SHOP In order to purchase gifts you will need to register first.  If you would like more information regarding any of the projects listed, then please leave a message in the Chat Box below and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.