Alonso Fernández de Heredia
| Alonso Fernández de Heredia | |
|---|---|
| 39th Royal Governor of La Florida | |
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In office 18 April 1751/55 – 21 April 1758 |
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| Preceded by | Fulgencio García de Solís |
| Succeeded by | Lucas Fernando Palacios |
| 77th Colonial Governor of Yucatán | |
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In office 1758–1761 |
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| Preceded by | Melchor de Navarrete |
| Succeeded by | Jose Crespo y Honorato |
| 37th Governor of Guatemala | |
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In office 1761–1771 |
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| Preceded by | Juan de Vera |
| Succeeded by | José González Rancaño |
| 49th Governor of Honduras | |
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In office 1747/1761 – ? |
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| Preceded by | Juan de Vera |
| Succeeded by | Diego de Tablada |
| Governor of Nicaragua | |
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In office 1761–1771 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | unknown Cetina, Zaragoza, Spain |
| Died | March 19, 1782 Guatemala City |
| Spouse(s) | Elena Marin de Villanueva e Hijar |
| Profession | Captain General and politician |
Alonso Fernández de Heredia (died March 19, 1782) was a Spanish Captain General and administrator who governed Florida (1751–1758), Yucatan (in modern day Mexico; 1758–?), the Captaincy General of Guatemala (1761–1771), Nicaragua (1761–1771) and Honduras (1761-?).
Alonso Fernández de Heredia was born in Cetina, Zaragoza, Spain, in the first half of the 18th century. He was the son of Antonio Fernandez de Heredia y Liñan Altarriba, 2nd Count of Contamina, and of Beatriz Ximenez de Cerdan y Gurrea, 2nd Marquesa de Barboles. He was a captain in the Spanish army and later a Field Marshal of the royal armies. In 1749, he was involved in a well-known smuggling case of the time; twenty nine years later, he was sentenced along with other accused participants. Heredia, like the other persons accused of smuggling, had fought against the British and promoted a plan to defend Spanish possessions on the Atlantic Coast .
Two years later, in 1751 (or on 18 April 1755, according to some sources), he was appointed governor of Florida, where he established a naval stores industry. The last substantial modifications of the Castillo de San Marcos under Spanish rule had begun in 1738, and were concluded in 1756 during his governorship with the construction of a drawbridge and portcullis at the fort's sally port entrance, as well as a plaque of the Spanish royal coat-of-arms above them.
Another notable development in Florida's history occurred under Heredia's administration when 363 agricultural settlers from the Canary Islands arrived in St. Augustine in October 1757. The Spanish authorities had conceived a plan to repopulate the province with groups of Spanish settlers, and altogether the Spanish crown sent 154 families hailing from the Canary Islands to Florida between 1757 and 1759. Heredia's term as governor of Florida ended on April 21, 1758, when he was appointed to serve as governor of Yucatan, Mexico.
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Wikipedia