Ferraz (Severiano Alberto de Freitas)

A distinguished Madeiran craftsman and industrialist, he died in Funchal on 24 August 1856, aged 64. In 1822 he built a new steam still, very simple and with excellent practical results. In March 1828 he set up a sugar factory in Funchal, the first in Madeira since the collapse of the Madeiran sugar industry in the mid-18th century. The factory was greatly improved in 1856, shortly before its owner’s death. He was a corresponding member of the Funchal Society of Friends of the Sciences and Arts (Sociedade Funchalense dos Amigos das Sciencias e Artes) and a member of the Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal), and he wrote an article on precious stones in no. 50 of O Patriota Funchalense (‘The Funchal Patriot’). He suffered persecution under the government of Miguel I because of his liberal ideas.