The title was conferred in perpetuity[a] upon the 4th Count by King José I of Portugal in the same document by which he was elevated to the Marquessate of Lavradio,[1][2] later confirmed by Letters Patent dated 29 August 1766.

Luis acceded to his parents' prosperous estate together with his father's commanderies of São Martinho da Lordosa, Soalheira and Bemposta in the Order of Christ.

[12] In 1647 he was posted to Brazil as Mestre de Campo of one of the elite regiments of Royal Marines,[c] where he served favourably during the War of Acclamation against Spain.

[12] He was later Governor General of Rio de Janeiro and, as a trusted courtier of the Queen Regent, D. Luisa de Gusmão, was given the highly sensitive role of last Portuguese Governor General of Tangiers,[12][13] with the responsibility of managing its transition to English rule in 1662, as part of the dowry of the Infanta Catarina on her betrothal to King Charles II.

[15] By his wife Isabel, Lady of Avintes, he had nine children, the eldest of whom, D. António de Almeida, was his heir and successor.