Ornelas de Vasconcelos (Daniel de)

He graduated in law from the University of Coimbra and practiced law in Funchal with great brilliance and proficiency. During the legislature from 1838 to 1840, when there was a vacancy for an effective senator from Madeira, Dr. Daniel de Ornelas was elected to that position in April 1839. He was later elevated to the peerage and granted the title of Baron of São Pedro. As a peer of the realm, the project he presented in parliament on February 15, 1850, to abolish all entailed estates, endowments, and attached chapels in this archipelago became famous. This bill was very poorly received in Madeira, and more than thirty representatives of ancient entailed houses sent a representation to the Chambers, showing how inconvenient and detrimental it was to the interests of this island. He died in Lisbon on February 23, 1878.