Portuguese state and official visits to the United Kingdom during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II

Author: Andrew Shepherd

Report:

Page:

Year: 2022

Subject Matter: NA

The Treaty of Tagilde

Author: Jenny Benham

Report:

Page:

Year: 2022

Subject Matter: NA

The British in Portugal

O Colégio dos Inglezinhos (English College) or, more accurately, the Pontifical College of St. Peter and St. Paul, dates back to 1622. With the same intention as the Irish College of Lisbon, which had been founded in 1590, and similar colleges in other parts of Europe, the Inglezinhos was designed to train Roman Catholic priests to undertake the risky practice of preaching in Post-Reformation, Protestant England and Wales.

1622 was the year when the necessary Papal Brief authorising the college was received from the Vatican and is considered to be the year when the college was founded, although it would be some years before the first students arrived. Permission to establish the college had been received from the King of Portugal (Filipe II or III?) in 1621 and the Chaplain to the British community, Fr. Aston, had already purchased a suitable building. His successor, Fr. Newman, obtained sponsorship from a wealthy Portuguese nobleman, Dom Pedro Coutinho, who offered to buy suitable land and erect the necessary buildings. However, difficulties were later experienced when Coutinho proved less generous than his first offer.

In 1627 Fr Joseph Heaynes (alias Hervey), from the Catholic college in Douai, northern France, was sent to Lisbon to finalise arrangements. He would become the college’s first president. On his return to Douai, via England, he was arrested and held in Dover Castle but managed to escape and make his way back to Douai. There he collected ten pupils and some teachers to travel to Lisbon. The school finally opened in 1629. Its first years were ones of considerable poverty; food was scarce and the teachers were not paid. Despite this, the college quickly attracted a reputation for the quality of the missionaries it sent to England, although two of its students were arrested in England and died in prison after being condemned to death.

The conditions of the college slowly improved and, by 1714, it proved possible to demolish the existing dilapidated buildings and lay the foundations for a new college. The new buildings survived the 1755 earthquake but the old bell tower collapsed, killing the then-president, Dr. Manly.  Students and teachers left the college after the earthquake, and it was then occupied by homeless families.

In 1808, during the Peninsular War, French troops under Junot expropriated the property and billeted troops there. The students were sent to England, where they stayed until 1815.

The academics at the College often had strong scientific leanings. Fr. Ilsley, 18th President of the College is reputed to have made the first steam engine in Portugal. With this he constructed what must have been the first Portuguese railway, even though it was only a miniature one, which ran for the amusement of the public in the Passeio Publico.

From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of World War II the college played an important role in the sporting life of the British and Portuguese communities, taking part in cricket and football matches against the leading teams, with the football team playing under the name of “The Crusaders” and proving almost unbeatable. The College eventually closed to students in 1972. In 1973, its archives were sent to Ushaw College in Durham, which was, like Lisbon College, a daughter of Douai. They are now housed in the Lisbon Room of Ushaw.

For more information, please see the following previous BHSP articles: The English College, Lisbon by A.H. Norris (1979), From Douai to Lisbon by A.H. Norris (1979), The Inglezinhos. A short history by D’Arcy Orders (1995) and The Lisbon Room at Ushaw by Michael Sharratt (2001).

65 Years Ago

In February 1957 the Anglo-Portuguese News (APN) welcomed the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on their first visit to Lisbon. Although not, perhaps, daring to hope that Her Majesty would read a copy, the issue was clearly targeted at people who had come to Lisbon because of the Queen’s visit and aimed primarily to inform people about the British presence in Portugal.

The issue had front-page photos of the couple with “God Save the Queen!” in large letters. Starting with advice from Sabina (a regular column) on where to go shopping in Lisbon, it then gave a run-down of various British institutions in Portugal, including pieces on the Charitable Funds set up in 1827 and 1897 to support poor British people living in Portugal, the Lisbon Ladies Club, and the Lisbon branch of the Women’s Voluntary Services, the only branch of the WVS outside the UK.

APN then provided a detailed list of the presents that were to be given to the Queen. These included a five-year-old pedigree horse, together with a replica 18th - century saddle, decorated with silver. The Queen had expressed a wish to visit Nazaré, and the town presented a collection of miniature fishing boats for Prince Charles (then aged 8) and some dolls dressed in regional costumes for Princess Anne (aged 6). The province of Beira Baixa gave the Queen a Castelo Branco bedspread embroidered with the Royal Arms, presented in a mahogany coffer. The British in Porto made a gift of a pipe of port wine, while Madeira contributed an embroidered table cloth.

The paper continued with articles about the Queen and her jewels and gowns, together with one about the Royal Yacht Britannia. These were followed by further articles on British institutions, namely the British Hospital, St George’s Church, the Presbyterian Church, the British Institute (British Council), St Julian’s School, Queen Elizabeth’s School, the Royal British Club, the British Chamber of Commerce, and the English College (see article to the left). There were also articles on some British businesses, including the Anglo-Portuguese Telephone Company, Cable & Wireless and James Rawes & Co. Room was also found for a brief description of Lisbon’s trams. The editorial content concluded with an amusing look at the difficulty of finding your way around Lisbon, given that so many places seemed to have more than one name.

The APN was never a great money-spinner for its owners, Luiz Marques and Susan Lowndes Marques, so they no doubt welcomed the Royal Visit as an opportunity to sell some advertisements. Issue 629 ran to 28 pages, compared to the usual 16. Most of the advertisers were British companies, so the issue provides a fascinating view of the involvement of the British in the Portuguese economy. The paint industry was represented by ICI and by Robbialac, a brand name first introduced into Portugal by the British company, Jenson and Nicholson. Porcelain companies to advertise were Vista Alegre and the British-owned Fábrica de Loiça de Sacavém. The cork industry was represented by Rankin Bros and the Cork Manufacturing Company of London. The trading and logistics companies, James Rawes & Co. and Garland Laidley and Co., also advertised, as did Ahlers Lindley, now known simply as Lindley. Hornung & Co. promoted its Sena Sugar Estates in Mozambique.

Many of the advertisers included special messages welcoming the Queen. These included the Madeiran company, Blandy Bros, which had both a full-page advert and a smaller one announcing that it now sold Queen Elizabeth London Dry Gin. Producers of Madeiran wine and port producers from Porto also placed advertisements. Other companies to include messages of goodwill included Shell, BP, William Graham Jnr., Metropolitan Vickers, and the Bank of London and South America.

Did you know?

Did you know that the British Historical Society played an important role in the Queen’s 1985 visit to Portugal?

Following a banquet at the Ajuda Palace, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh went to an exhibition of photographs and memorabilia relating to the visits of King Edward VII to Lisbon in 1903 and King Manuel II to London in 1910. The Society's chairman, John Cobb, was one of those who guided the royal couple around the exhibition.

As highlighted in Newsletter 13, the bust of Edward VII, close to the Estufa Fria in Parque do Eduardo VII, was funded by the Society. BHSP Council members were present when the Queen unveiled the statue and John Cobb showed her the inscription on the back of the plinth, which noted that the bust was a copy of the original at the Royal Military Hospital in Chelsea, which was sculpted by Albert Bruce-Joy. The Estufa Fria bust came about largely as a result of the enthusiasm for the idea of Paolo Lowndes Marques, later to be Chairman of the Society.

Source: J.M. Woolley. The Queen's Visit, March 1985.

Members' News

We are sad to report the deaths of two members, who both made major contributions to the Society.

Terry Graham Weineck, OBE was, until the pandemic, coordinator of the Society’s Porto branch. He remained an active supporter, and shortly before his death attended our recent event in Porto, referred to elsewhere in this Newsletter. Born in South Africa in 1937, he worked in Mozambique from 1960 to 1975, until losing both his job and his home following that country’s independence. In 1980 he obtained a job in Porto, working with the Valentine paint company. Terry became a very active member of St. James’ Anglican Church, Porto as well as president of the Oporto Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club. A more-detailed obituary can be found here.

George Lind-Guimaraes was born in Porto in 1937 but left Portugal during World War II. He returned to Porto in 1963 and was for many years an English teacher at the British Council there. A longstanding member of the Society, George edited our publication “Eyewitness Accounts of the Portuguese Revolution (1974-1976)”. An excellent raconteur, who regrettably ignored suggestions that he should write down his stories, George was still entertaining fellow members at this year’s Annual Lunch, shortly before his death. A more-detailed obituary can be found here.

___________________

Answer to Quiz

In 1957 the barge was used to transport the Queen and her husband from the Royal Yacht Britannia to the Terreiro do Paço in Lisbon.

The barge had been built in the Royal Naval Shipyard in 1778 by order of Queen Maria I, for the betrothal of Prince João, later King João VI. She was manned by 80 oarsmen, one coxswain and one bowman. 

For a picture of the Queen's arrival on the barge, click on this link

_________________

If you wish to contact us, please write to library@bhsportugal.org

If you would like to join the Society, please click here