Alincourt (Francisco de)
Original title: Alincourt. (Francisco de)
Francisco de Alincourt was a military engineer who drew the general map of Madeira in 1769 and studied the needs of Porto Santo; he was briefly imprisoned in 1770 as a freemason.
He was an engineer sergeant-major (sargento-mor engenheiro, a field-officer rank equivalent to major), a professed knight of the Order of Christ (Ordem de Cristo) and a professor at the Royal Academy. He drew up the general map of Madeira in 1769, and in the same year he went to Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) to study the needs of that island, on which he wrote a dissertation. Arrested in 1770 as a freemason on the orders of the governor João António de Sá Pereira, he was released shortly afterwards and restored to his post under instructions sent by the Marquis of Pombal to his representative on this island.