Oudinot (Reinaldo)
Brigadier Reinaldo Oudinot, sent from Lisbon after the great flood of 1803 to direct public works in Madeira, notably the walls of Funchal's three streams; he also mapped the city and began the general map of the island.
After the great flash flood (aluvião) that devastated Madeira on 9 October 1803, the government in mainland Portugal sent Brigadier Reinaldo Oudinot to the island to supervise the public works then carried out, especially the building and repair of the walls of the three streams that run through the city. He arrived in Funchal on 19 February 1804 and died here on 11 February 1807. He rendered excellent services, not only through the great energy he showed in the works he directed, but also through the proven competence he displayed in carrying out the commission he came to fulfil among us.
On 9 September 1805 he sent the Viscount of Anadia a detailed map of the city of Funchal and its bay, and he began the general map of Madeira, which was completed by Paulo Dias de Almeida.
He wrote a set of Instructions, of which a copy, now lost, once existed in the archive of the Funchal Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal do Funchal). In 1837 the same Council supplied copies of these Instructions to the parish councils of the municipality (concelho).
In reward for the services Brigadier Oudinot had rendered to Madeira, his widow, Dona Vicência do Carmo Oudinot, was granted the chantry (capela) founded by Felipe de Barros in Ribeira Brava (‘wild river’).
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 05-
The great flood of 9 October 1803, considered Madeira's greatest calamity, devastated Funchal and other parts of the island, killing about 600 people and destroying the Calhau church, stream walls, bridges and chapels in Machico, Santa Cruz and elsewhere. It prompted Oudinot's mission and the city's spread outwards.
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Brigadier Reinaldo Oudinot arrived in Funchal in February 1804 and channelled and walled the town's three streams; floods in December 1804 proved the walls, and in 1806 houses by the João Gomes and Santa Luzia streams were demolished for the works.
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Oudinot sent a detailed map of Funchal and its bay to the Visconde de Anadia.
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The engineer Reinaldo Oudinot died in Funchal.
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Funchal council supplied copies of Oudinot's Instructions to the parish councils.
Place
Places mentioned · 02
- Funchal
City where Oudinot worked on stream walls, arrived in 1804 and died.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Ribeira Brava
Location of the chapel granted to Oudinot's widow.
Ribeira Brava is one of Madeira's oldest parishes, named after its violent stream, with a town, port and quay. The Elucidário covers its collegiate church and its paintings, its Franciscan convent and chapels, and its São Pedro festival with a boat and sword dance. It also records riots against the metric system and deaths when troops fired on the people during the 1884 election.
People
People mentioned · 05- Reinaldo Oudinotd. 1807
Brigadier sent to Madeira after the 1803 flood to supervise public works; died in Funchal in 1807.
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Founder of the chapel endowment at Ribeira Brava later granted to Oudinot's widow.
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Engineer who completed the general map of Madeira begun by Oudinot.
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Oudinot's widow, granted the chapel endowment of Felipe de Barros in reward for his services.
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Government minister to whom Oudinot sent his map of Funchal in 1805.