One of 10 siblings (4 boys and 6 girls — through one of which Verney was to be João Frederico Ludovice's brother-in-law), Luís António was baptized on 6 August of that year, in the Church of Saint Julian.

[1] He studied in the Jesuit College of Saint Antony the Abbot, probably between 1720 and 1727, and from then till 1729, Philosophy with the Oratorians, at the Convent of the Holy Spirit of the Quarry (Espírito Santo da Pedreira).

His Verdadeiro Método de Estudar, setting out in summary form his harsh criticism of the existing system and his proposals for changing it, was initially published anonymously in 1746: it soon became the focus of much controversy, which made Verney lose much needed influence at the court of King John V.[3] In Verdadeiro Método de Estudar, Verney argued that grammar should be taught in Portuguese, not Latin, and staunchly defended experimental methods, as opposed to a system of argumentation based on authority, calling into question the influence of the Society of Jesus, who held a near-monopoly of higher education in the country; Verney also approached (without necessarily adopting) some of the principles of the Jansenists and Gallicans in relation to the methods used in theological studies.

[1][2] Verney's standing with the political elites grew stronger with the rise of the chief minister of King Joseph I, the Marquis of Pombal, he himself an estrangeirado.

In 1780, he became a correspondent of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences in Rome and, in 1790, was named an honorary member of the Board of Conscience and Orders (Mesa de Consciência e Ordens).