Ambrosio O'Higgins, Marquis of Osorno
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Don Ambrosio O'Higgins Marqués de Osorno |
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| Viceroy of Peru | |
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In office July 24, 1796 – March 18, 1801 |
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| Monarch | Charles IV |
| Prime Minister | Manuel de Godoy |
| Preceded by | Francisco Gil de Taboada |
| Succeeded by | Manuel Arredondo |
| Royal Governor of Chile | |
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In office May 1788 – May 16, 1796 |
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| Monarch | Charles IV |
| Prime Minister | The Count of Floridablanca |
| Preceded by | Ambrosio de Benavides |
| Succeeded by | José de Rezabal |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c.1720 Ballynary, County Sligo, Ireland |
| Died | March 19, 1801 (aged 80–81) Lima, Peru |
| Children | Bernardo O'Higgins |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Ambrosio Bernardo O'Higgins, 1st Marquis of Osorno (c. 1720 – March 19, 1801) born Ambrose Bernard O'Higgins (Ambrós Bearnárd Ó hUiginn, in Irish), was a member of the O'Higgins family and an Irish-born Spanish colonial administrator. He served the Spanish Empire as captain general (i.e., military governor) of Chile (1788–1796) and viceroy of Peru (1796–1801). Chilean independence leader Bernardo O'Higgins was his son.
A member of the O'Higgins family, Ambrose was born at his family's ancestral seat in Ballynary, County Sligo, Ireland; the son of Charles O'Higgins and his wife (and kinswoman) Margaret O'Higgins, who having lost their lands in Sligo migrated and became tenant farmers at Clondoogan near Summerhill in County Meath ca. 1721. Along with other members of his family Ambrose worked in the service of the Rowley-Langford family of Summerhill House. In fact Ambrose is said to have been employed by Lady Jane Rawley.
In 1751, O'Higgins arrived at Cádiz, where he dedicated himself to commerce as an employee of the Butler Trading House. As an Irishman and a Catholic, he was able to emigrate legally to Spanish America in 1756. Once there, and for some time, he was an itinerant trader in Venezuela, New Granada, and Peru, but, being investigated by the Inquisition, he moved to La Plata Colony, in present-day Argentina, where he tried some commercial ventures. From there, O'Higgins proposed to open easy communication between Chile and Mendoza by a way over the Andes, and, his proposition being accepted, he was employed to supervise the project.
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