In the Graveyard: Memorial to Joseph James Forrester (1809-1861)
- St James Church
- Mar 1
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 3
Joseph James Forrester’s life was short by our twenty-first century standards. He drowned – the boat carrying him swamped by rapids – in the River Douro in May 1861, a couple of weeks before his 52nd birthday. But the Englishman’s history of travel and adventure in Portugal, as a wine merchant, cartographer, writer, and photographer, led to honours in his native and adopted countries. Because the body was never found, and his home was in Porto, a memorial was placed in the churchyard at St James.
Aged 22, he left Hull in East Yorkshire for Porto, to join his uncle, James Forrester, who was a partner in the house of Offley, Forrester, and Webber. As well as learning the wine and port trade, young Joseph Forrester set himself to map the River Douro, from the Spanish border to its mouth in Porto. He must have felt the 12-year project was worth the effort when the Portuguese government adopted it officially as an instrument of navigation. A geological survey and separate map of the Alto-Douro, or port wine district, showing the prominent wine farms – quintas – was also published in 1843 and reprinted in 1852 by order of a select committee of the House of Commons.
In 1844, he wrote a pamphlet championing the port wine producers in the Upper Douro against the Douro Wine Company’s monopoly on export. Those with vested interests were furious, but local growers responded with letters by the cartload thanking him warmly. Joseph Forrester was elected a member of the newly established Photographic Society of London in 1854 and became a pioneer of the art form in Portugal, building a photographic studio into his house in Vila Nova de Gaia.
A collection of publications – including writings on Portugal, vine disease, and the manufacture of olive oil – and related products won him a silver medal first class and a fistful
of diplomas and honourable mentions at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1855. In that same year, he received the most notable of his many international and academic honours – the title of Baron de Forrester bestowed on him for life by King Ferdinand II of Portugal.
Above all, he exemplified what it means to live and be loved abroad – no longer a stranger. The Portuguese people mourned his death. Ships in Lisbon and Porto flew their colours at half-mast. Today, original copies of his famous River Douro map, on the rare occasions they come to auction, are highly sought after for substantial sums. Even recent quality reproductions are prized.
Interested in learning more? Read this paper, written by members of our parish, which tells more about this fascinating individual:
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