Albuquerque (Luís da Silva Mousinho de)
Original title: Albuquerque (Luiz da Silva Mousinho de)
Biography of Luiz da Silva Mousinho de Albuquerque, man of letters, scientist and liberal politician, who was the first governor (prefect) of Madeira under the constitutional regime (1834–35). He also wrote on Madeiran geology and died of a wound received at Torres Vedras in 1846.
Prefect of Madeira and later career
This illustrious man of letters and of science, who greatly distinguished himself in politics and in our civil conflicts, was the first governor of this archipelago after the establishment of constitutional government. Under the new administrative division, Madeira became a prefecture (prefeitura), and Mousinho de Albuquerque was appointed prefect (prefeito) by decree of 30 June 1834, taking office on 6 August of the same year. His administration was short: he left the government of Madeira on 30 September 1835 and departed for Lisbon on 11 November of that year to take up a ministerial portfolio.
In the meantime he left his mark on this island through the impartiality and justice with which he exercised his high office, the reforms he introduced in many public services and the strong support he gave to the founding of an orphanage, which did not last long after his departure from Madeira. He was deputy for this island in the legislatures from 1834 to 1840.
In 1837 he published an interesting memoir entitled Observações para servirem para a história geológica das ilhas da Madeira, Porto Santo e Desertas.
Mousinho de Albuquerque came to Madeira by order of Pedro IV in 1832 to occupy this island, then in the hands of the Miguelites. Unable to do so, he landed on Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) and there made use of his leisure by writing the poem Ruy o Escudeiro, which he published some years later. (See Occupation of Porto Santo by the constitutional troops.)
As is well known, Luís da Silva Mousinho de Albuquerque died in 1846 of a wound received in the clash at Torres Vedras, during the civil war then ravaging the country.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 05-
A liberal expedition sent by D. Pedro IV under Mousinho de Albuquerque to take Madeira from the Miguelists failed to attack and turned to Porto Santo instead.
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Mousinho de Albuquerque served as deputy for Madeira.
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Luiz da Silva Mousinho de Albuquerque was appointed prefect of Madeira by decree.
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Mousinho de Albuquerque arrived and took office as prefect and military governor of Madeira on 6 August 1834, governing until September 1835.
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Mousinho de Albuquerque left the civil government of Madeira, remaining only military governor until 8 November 1835.
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Luiz da Silva Mousinho de Albuquerque left Madeira for Lisbon to take up a ministerial post.
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A memoir on the geology of Madeira, Porto Santo and the Desertas was published in Lisbon.
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Luiz da Silva Mousinho de Albuquerque died of a wound received at Torres Vedras.
Place
Places mentioned · 05
Abroad
- Desertas
Santa Cruz. Included in his geological memoir of 1837.
An island group near Madeira that was already separated from it at the last eruptions and shares endemic species with it. It was the main orchil-harvesting area, and Wollaston found 89 beetle species there. The islands were investigated by scientific expeditions, including the Endurance scientists in 1914.
- Lisbon
Portugal. He left for Lisbon in 1835 to become a minister.
The Portuguese capital, seat of the Relação court and of the Misericórdia whose privileges and statutes were extended to Funchal. Henrique Franco de Sousa studied at its Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and Luiz José Baiardo moved there in 1821.
- Porto Santo
Where he landed in 1832 and wrote the poem Ruy o Escudeiro.
An island of the archipelago, settled alongside Madeira and forming one of the three captaincies. It has always constituted a single parish, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Piedade, whose church was repeatedly sacked. The Elucidário records the Moorish pirate raid of 1617, its own Misericórdia and a rainwater channel built on this drought-prone island.
- Torres Vedras
Portugal. Site of the clash in which he received his fatal wound.
Torres Vedras is a Portuguese mainland town. The revolt of February 1844 broke out there, and Luís da Silva Mousinho de Albuquerque received his fatal wound in a clash there. The nearby Fonte Nova spring was cited as a mainland water comparable to that of São Roque.
People
People mentioned · 02-
First constitutional governor (prefect) of Madeira, 1834–35, later deputy and minister, author of a geological memoir on the islands; died in 1846 of a wound from Torres Vedras.
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King of Portugal who in 1832 sent Mousinho de Albuquerque to take Madeira from the Miguelists.