22 Port anD the Douro
wine flowing into the Douro which turned a rather murky shade of purple. Pedro duly
entered Lisbon in July 1833 and re-established the liberal regime. On 30 May 1834 Pedro
IV extinguished ‘all privileges, authority, prerogatives and protuberances’ of the Companhia
which was now given the same rights as any commercial firm. The same decree also opened
the bar (mouth) of the River Douro to all Portuguese wines subject to a tax of 12 escudos
per pipe. Pedro died of consumption in September the same year and his heart was buried,
according to his wishes, in front of the high alter at the Church of Lapa in Oporto. He
was succeeded to the throne by his daughter Maria II who, aged 15, became Portugal’s first
constitutional monarch.
Men who shaPeD the Douro
Joseph James Forrester (1809–1861)
Born in hull, england in 1809, Joseph Forester joined his uncle’s oporto-based firm
offley Forrester in 1831. Forrester was a bluff yorkshireman who, like many from ‘God’s
own county’, became known for his blunt opinions. he mixed on equal terms with the
Portuguese, keeping company with everyone from the noble fidalgos in oporto to the
farmers in the douro. Unlike most British shippers, he spoke fluent Portuguese.
at a time when few shippers ventured upstream from oporto apart from during
the vintage, Forrester travelled considerably and came to know every twist and turn
in the river. he frequently based himself at the Barão de Viamonte’s Quinta da Boa
Vista, a property that now belongs to offley. Forrester held some controversial views
on Port (see below) and did little to endear himself to the British establishment with
his forthright expressions; unusually for a British shipper, he was never invited to join
the Factory house. although he came to Portugal to sell Port, Forrester’s considerable
achievements were outside day-to-day commerce. in his biography of Forrester,
John delaforce concludes that ‘there is no doubt that he was more interested in the
production side of the Port trade than in the marketing of the wines’.
Forrester was an accomplished artist, cartographer and, later, photographer.
Motivated by his wish to make the douro more accessible and improve the local
economy, his survey and mapping of the regions are, without doubt, his finest works.
Forrester was honoured many times during his life and his numerous medals from
different countries appear on successive editions of his maps. he was granted a barony
by d. Fernando, Regent of Portugal in 1855. Forrester had a close friendship with dona
antónia Ferreira (see below) and the two of them were travelling down the douro when
he was killed in an accident in 1861.