Reinald Oudinot
Reinald Oudinot (1747 – 11 February 1807) was born in Serpignes, near Verdun, France in 1747, and became a military Engineer in the French Army, rising to the rank of Brigadier.
For some years there had been considerable cooperation between France and Portugal and in [1766] he arrived in Northern Portugal, where he was commissioned to design or assist in the repair and restoration of a number of architectural and engineering projects.
Evidence shows that he married Dª Vicencia do Carmo (Oudinot) and had a family in Portugal, as the name still exists today, and that his daughter (or one of his daughters ) married a Portuguese Military Engineer whose name was Luís Gomes de Carvalho (1771–1826).
He alone, and then with his son in law, worked mainly in the Porto and Aveiro area and they are credited with a number of important works.
Together, their most important works were the improvements to the entry of the harbour at Leixões where Oudinot worked from 1789 to 1802 and Gomes de Carvalho continued until 1826, and the linking of the Vouga River directly to the sea at Aveiro which began in 1802.
These were extensive engineering concerns carried out during the golden age of canal building in Northern Europe.
The objective of the work at Leixões was to provide a safer harbour than that offered by the hazardous mouth of the River Douro, in an effort to help export Port wine and other products from the Douro Valley. The foreign community in Porto involved in trade was already strong enough to have a substantial presence and need of such an infrastructure.
Incredibly, this project was only really finished at the beginning of the 1900s, (by French contractors) and indeed the Port of Leixões continues even today to be subject to improvements and alterations.
One is not sure if Oudinot and his son in law were the first to be asked to tackle this matter, or whether they are just part of a chain of professionals who worked on the project.
Together with his son in law, Oudinot was asked by the Marquês do Pombal to resolve the problem of flooding in the city of Aveiro where a storm in 1575 had blocked the original exit of the Vouga River to the sea, causing the city to be semi-flooded much of the year. They developed a project for a canal which was not fully built when Oudinot left Aveiro, and it was his son in law who finished the works.
In addition to these works, Oudinot is also credited with the design of a number of buildings in the Porto Area. These include military barracks at São Ouvido, the gateway to the castle of São João Baptista da Foz, and a building for Casa Pia, in Porto and the town hall in Póvoa de Varzim. These are all dated between 1790 and 1792.
However, on the Aveiro project it would appear that Oudinot and his son in law fell out, presumably for professional reasons, and they stopped working together. Gomes de Carvalho is thus mainly credited as the final author of the project for the drainage of the city, finished in 1808 although he was to be expelled from the city later on.
On 9 October 1803, there were severe storms on the island of Madeira which caused severe flash floods to rush down the valleys that traverse the City of Funchal (and other towns and villages on the island), causing massive destruction and the loss of between 600 and 1000 lives.
Oudinot was sent to Funchal by the Portuguese government on 19 February 1804 to make sure it didn't happen again. He was also sent to improve the port of Funchal which at that time still had no link to the “loo rock”.
He it was who apparently designed the massive walls that side the 4 or 5 streams and rivers that flow through the centre of Funchal and split the city into several distinct sections. It maybe that similar works in Ribeira Grande and other towns and villages in Madeira were either designed by him, or copied from his work in Funchal.
He also set up the structure for a full survey, firstly of Funchal and its bay which he sent to the Visconde de Anadia in 1805, and subsequently of all Madeira which later completed by Paulo Dias de Almeida.
However his stay in Madeira was brief as died there on 11 February 1807. This is almost coincidental with the second British occupation of Madeira at the end of 1807, at the outbreak of the Peninsular War. Had he lived longer, his French nationality could well have been embarrassing on the island. His widow, Dª Vicencia stayed on in Madeira.
Despite this, his work must have had a great impact on the island, because although he was only there for only three years, one of the main streets, institutions and several buildings bear his name throughout Funchal. He is also remembered in street, canal and park names in Aveiro.