Bento de Moura
of Portugal
Bento de Moura Portugal (21 March 1702 – 27 January 1766) was a Portuguese aristocrat, a Knight of the Order of Christ, and a scientist best known for his improvements to the steam pump invented by Thomas Savery. He became known as 'the Portuguese Newton'.
Moura Portugal was born in Moimenta da Serra, Portugal. In 1741 he was elected to the Royal Society in London.[3]
In 1742 he demonstrated his improved steam engine to the Portuguese court in Lisbon. In 1747 he was tried and found guilty of proposições heréticas e escandalosas for the assembly of such "fire machines" by the Inquisition, and spent the rest of his life going gradually insane in Junqueira Prison in Lisbon.
The above information is from the Wikipedia entry, accessed 15 Jan 2020.
1752 John Smeaton presented a paper to the Royal Society, available online here[1]. A novel feature was the provision of a floating copper ball within the receiver to operate the steam and water injection valves, part of the arrangeent to make the pump self-acting.