Born into a wealthy family from Porto, Venceslau Pereira de Lima was sent abroad very young, and there made his preparatory and secondary studies.

In 1883 he competed for a position on the faculty of the Polytechnic Academy of Porto, having publicly presented during the competition a dissertation on the function of chlorophyll as evidence of his ability.

The only published works by Portuguese researchers consisted of Bernardino António Gomes's studies of Carboniferous plant fossils.

Venceslau de Lima decided to bring together the previously published works of foreign researchers, especially those of Daniel Sharpe, Charles Bunbury, and Oswald Heer, and from that incipient base developed a study of geology and plant paleontology in Portugal, specifically of Carboniferous land.

Lima continued in the office into 1905, despite the fact José Luciano de Castro had replaced Hintze Ribero as President of the Council of Ministers.

When the Portuguese Republic was founded in 1910, he refused, as a monarchist, to work for the government, choosing instead to resign any and all public posts he held.

Over a thirty-year period Venceslau de Lima published a wide range of works on paleontology and the geology of coal deposits, including: