He was the son and heir of the 1st Marquis of the same title, D. António de Almeida Soares e Portugal and his wife, D. Francisca das Chagas Mascarenhas, sister of the 8th Duke of Aveiro.

This regulation, made by the Marquis of Pombal, and promulgated by the charter of 10 July 1771, is a clear proof of how thorough was the spirit of the great minister and rigor with which he proceeded in these inspections.

About this regulation the Brazilian writer Pereira da Silva wrote that it ordered him to: 'limit the number of residents in the diamond district, and state their professions, and invested the steward of almost dictatorial and absolute powers in all matters military, administrative, judicial and police, reporting directly to the metropolitan government, and without any dependence of the captains, generals.

Severe penalties to prevent the smuggling themselves, that ever since the discovery was developed largely by the ease of transport and concealment of the product and, despite all precautions and important actions of the authorities, without humiliation story that residents were suffering, and hardship and untold barbarians who passed by, if not increased, not diminished however, continued its regular course otherwise progressive.

Not enough, and even finding themselves empowered for that purpose the existing religious orders in Brazil, the Capuchins fervently followed the footsteps of Jesuit priests and was employed in the missions dispatched to the interior, in charge of calling the nomadic tribes of social life, leading them to abandon their wild habits.