António Rocha pursued his professional career as a lawyer and above all a teacher in parallel with the holding of various public offices, both at the university and as a political activist. We are told that he was elected 1st Substitute Member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Feira division in Beira province (Diário da Câmara dos Deputados, 15/XI/1822, p.7), and as actual Member for the Douro province for 1834-36 – a seat in which he was confirmed in 1835. He took the oath of office in January 1836, and in the first months of the legislature spoke in the Chamber on topics linked to the new liberal order, albeit maintaining quite a low profile in the process.

The civility with which he discussed matters concerning the University, as a member of the Education Committee, deserves particular note. He defended the interests of the students who were politically active during their service with the Queen’s troops, and involved himself in a number of minor questions, such as the criteria for the naturalisation of foreigners and the substitution of the President of the Chamber of Deputies. In the midst of the abolition of the religious orders, he put his name to the proposal to lift the ban on ordinations (idem, 18-19-21/I/1836 and 6/II/1836). He stood out in the performance of politically important posts linked to teaching, both on the Board of the Directorate-General of Studies (JDGE, 1834), and as acting Vice-Rector of the University (1834-1835). In 1840 we find him on the Governing Council for Primary and Secondary Education (CDEPS), and the quality of his performance as member of the Public Education Council (CIP) is also well known. He was made Commander of the Order of Our Lady of the Conception of Vila Viçosa.

From 1836 onwards he gradually reduced the extent to which he pursued the liberal cause as a politician, but the 1840’s led him to decide to actually withdraw from public life and dedicate himself to his studies and his teaching work. There is no knowledge of his having participated in any joint or periodical works. It was against this background that in 1841, at the age of 48, he published his first historiographical study, which was targeted at the relatively limited audience composed of the people who attended his classes at the Faculty of Law. Ensaio sobre a história do governo e da legislação de Portugal para servir de Introdução ao Estudo do Direito Pátrio was written from his notes and was intended to supplement the history textbook Juris Civilis Lusitani by his predecessor, Pascoal de Melo Freire. However, the first edition sold out, and a second was published the following year, with a total of seven appearing by 1896.

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