Ambrosio O'Higgins, Marquis of Osorno
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Ambrose O'Higgins, Marquis of Osorno, Barón de Ballinar (es: Ambrosio O'Higgins, marqués de Osorno, barón de Ballinar) (c. 1720, Ballynary, County Sligo, Ireland—March 19, 1801[1], Lima, Peru) born Ambrose O'Higgins (Ambróis Ó hUigínn, in Irish), was 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 illegitimate son.
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[edit] Early life
Ambrose O'Higgins was the son of Charles and Margaret O'Higgins. Charles O'Higgins' grandfather, Sean Duff O'Higgins, held the Gaelic territorial title of Tiarna or Lord of Ballinary, and he was married to a woman who was of the Royal House of O'Conor of Ballintuber Castle, which ruled Ireland until the year 1000. The O'Higgins family had owned great expanses of land in the Irish counties of Sligo, Westmeath and Mayo, but with the expropriations of Catholics by Oliver Cromwell, and the deportation of tenants to County Sligo after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, the O'Higgins' lands became smaller and smaller. Due to this encroachment into their land, the O'Higgins family emigrated to County Meath, where they became lowly tenant farmers and worked in the service of the Rowley-Langford family. In fact Ambrose is said to have been employed by Lady Jane Rawley. In 1751, Ambrose 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.
[edit] Governor of Chile
After enrolling in the Spanish Imperial Service, he moved to La Plata Colony, in present day Argentina, where he tried some commercial ventures. Later he enrolled as draughtsman and then engineer for the Spanish Imperial Service. It was there that John Garland, another Irish engineer at the service of Spain, convinced him to move to the neighbouring, and less established, colony of Chile. He rose quickly through the Service and became military governor (capitán general) of Chile.
During this time he had a relationship with Isabel Riquelme, a criolla whose family was a member of the Spanish ruling class. From this unofficial union a son was born, Bernardo O'Higgins, who would later lead Chile to its independence from the Spanish Empire. Though Ambrose never officially recognised this son as his legal heir, he paid for his education in England and left him his possessions in Peru and Chile.
As governor of Chile, one of the most problematic, poor and remote Spanish outposts, O'Higgins was extremely active, promoting the construction of a definitive road between the capital Santiago and the port of Valparaiso (part of the layout of which is still in use today), the building of the Palacio de la Moneda in Santiago, and the establishment of a reliable postal service between La Plata colony and the General Captaincy of Chile.
[edit] Viceroy of Peru
In 1796, O'Higgins was appointed Viceroy of Peru, comprising present-day Peru, Chile, Bolivia, northwest Argentina and parts of western Brazil. Peru was the richest colony of the whole Empire and thus the Viceroyship the most prominent post in all of Spanish America. He occupied it until his death in 1801.
[edit] Legacy
There are various towns, bays, and other Spanish discoveries in the Americas were named after his birthplace during his time as Viceroy, such as Vallenar (originally named San Ambrosio de Ballenary, later Hispanizised to Vallenar) in Chile or Vallenar Bay in Alaska[1].
[edit] External links
- Murray, Edmundo - "O'Higgins, Ambrose (Ambrosio) (c. 1721-1801), governor and captain-general of Chile, later viceroy of Peru"
- [The O'Higgins Clan Association http://www.ohigginsclan.com]
| Preceded by Ambrosio de Benavides |
Royal Governor of Chile 1788-1796 |
Succeeded by José de Rezabal y Ugarte |
| Preceded by Francisco Gil de Taboada |
Viceroy of Peru 1796 - 1801 |
Succeeded by Manuel Arredondo y Pelegrín |
