Castelo Branco Manuel (Mauricio José de)

He was a native of Valezim and belonged to an ancient and noble family of that village. He graduated in law and pursued a career in the judiciary, having served as an external judge in this island in the first quarter of the last century. When the representative system was proclaimed in the country, Dr. Mauricio Castelo Branco was elected as a deputy for Madeira to the Constituent Cortes that functioned from 1821 to 1822. The other two representatives of this archipelago in the cortes were Francisco João Moniz and Dr. João José de Freitas Aragão. From the work 'Gallery of the deputies of the general and constituent cortes... of 1821', it is seen that Mauricio José Castelo Branco dedicated himself with zeal to the affairs of Madeira and dealt quite boldly with various matters of general interest, revealing a very liberal spirit and great independence of character. He married a Madeiran lady in Funchal and was the progenitor of the distinguished Castelo Branco family in this island.