Eça then worked in the Portuguese consular service and after two years' service at Havana was stationed, from late 1874 until April 1879, at 53 Grey Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, where there is a memorial plaque in his honour. His diplomatic duties included the dispatch of detailed reports to the Portuguese foreign office concerning the unrest in the Northumberland and Durham coalfields – in which, as he points out, the miners earned twice as much as those in South Wales, along with free housing and a weekly supply of coal. The Newcastle years were among the most productive of his literary career. He published the second version of "O Crime de Padre Amaro" in 1876 and another celebrated novel, "O Primo Basílio" ("Cousin Bazilio") in 1878, as well as working on a number of other projects. These included the first of his "Cartas de Londres" ("Letters from London") which were printed in the Lisbon daily newspaper "Diário de Notícias" and afterwards appeared in book form as "Cartas de Inglaterra". As early as 1878 he had at least given a name to his masterpiece "Os Maias" ("The Maias"), though this was largely written during his later residence in Bristol and was published only in 1888.