181:) shipped from England, than the Portuguese could by using wood which was in short supply. As an unknown Englishman, he succeeded in getting an interview with Carvalho who was immediately enthusiastic about the idea. There was a difficult start as his English contact first sent the wrong sort of coal, and then the cargo ships were captured by the French. However Stephens rode these difficulties and was also helped by the passing of the Culm Act by the British Parliament in 1758 which exempted the material from duty. Stephens became a close and trusted friend of the
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185:, the Portuguese Prime Minister, but for a number of reasons including economic depression and by rival Portuguese lime manufacturers he was unable to sell enough lime and was on the verge of bankruptcy by 1762. It was at this time that his three brothers and a sister were shipped out to join him in Portugal. With Carvalho's assistance the business recovered and was in full production by 1769. In the meantime Stephens had come under pressure from the
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achieve productivity. He introduced a programme of social welfare to
Marinha Grande. He opened schools, organised an illness relief fund and pension system, closed the taverns and introduced cultural activities, reorganised the food supply, and most significantly introduced developments to agriculture. He followed with interest the schemes of
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to raise import duties, giving him a monopoly of glass supply in
Portugal and its colonies. This and the resurrected lime business made Stephens a wealthy man, and he built a palatial villa at Marinha Grande. However he also had enlightened views that a happy and motivated workforce was important to
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English merchants in Lisbon were in a privileged position with exemptions from local tax and regulations. Stephens was signed on for seven years apprenticeship, but his uncle's business failed and he was taken as a partner on by a successful merchant, George Medley. At this time
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and soon became her favourite industrialist. Stephens still remained loyal to his friend the
Marquis of Pombal in his isolation from power. Maria increased Stephens' privileges and made two royal visits to Marinha Grande, but her mental health was unstable. In 1792, her son
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Stephens was given control of the glassworks and was granted several privileges, including an interest-free loan and exception from all taxes. He rebuilt the factory, but sales were affected by competition from imported glass and he persuaded
Carvalho, now known as the
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but kept in touch with his son. When his wife died in 1743 Oliver
Stephens married Jane Smith and had a larger family so that William Stephens was several years older than his siblings. He was educated in Exeter Free Grammar School and in 1746 went to
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With the clouds of war gathering in 1803 Stephens died at the family house in Lisbon, leaving the glass factory to his brother, John James
Stephens. On John James' death the glass factory was ceded to the Portuguese government. Both are buried in the
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and then operating the
Portuguese Royal Glassworks. He was a brilliant organiser, intelligent and charismatic, and he charmed dictators, queens and princes to become one of the richest industrialists in Europe.
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Stephens had been introduced to
Portuguese Court circles, and when Pombal fell from power on the king's death in 1777, he paid court to the new sovereign
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destroyed Lisbon and much of the
English commercial activity. Carvalho e Melo, however, enhanced his power by taking control of the situation.
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Stephens recognised that there would soon be an urgent demand for building materials, and saw a way in which he could make more lime by using
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Stephens was the illegitimate son of Oliver
Stephens, a schoolmaster in Cornwall, and Jane Smith a servant girl from the
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was starting his rise to power and began getting into disputes with the English merchants. Then, in 1755,
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took over the reins of power, confirming the privileges conferred by his mother.
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and his minister Francisco Xavier de Mendonça to reopen and operate the
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Conflicts & Conspiracies: Brazil and Portugal, 1750–1808
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and transformed agricultural productivity in the area.
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Glass:The strange history of the Lyne Stephens fortune
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British Historical Society of Portugal Annual Report
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135:estate. He was brought up by his grandparents at
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314:Travel in Portugal – Nazare – Mainha Grande
16:English entrepreneur and glass manufacturer
327:"The Stephens Brothers and Marinha Grande"
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411:Burials at the British Cemetery, Lisbon
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106:(16 May 1731 – 11 May 1803), known in
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19:For others with the same name, see
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386:18th century in Portugal
325:Thornton, Grace (1998).
252:British Cemetery, Lisbon
191:royal glassworks factory
127:Early life and education
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396:English industrialists
391:English businesspeople
256:Stephens Lyne-Stephens
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120:1755 Lisbon earthquake
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152:Merchant in Portugal
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77:(1803-05-11)
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381:1803 deaths
376:1731 births
244:Prince John
228:Thomas Coke
75:11 May 1803
57:16 May 1731
370:Categories
266:References
175:anthracite
118:after the
94:Occupation
53:1731-05-16
133:Pentillie
258:and the
146:Portugal
137:Pillaton
108:Portugal
87:Portugal
61:Cornwall
340:1 March
177:waste (
65:England
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141:Exeter
83:Lisbon
342:2020
299:ISBN
179:culm
116:lime
72:Died
47:Born
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