Fernando Márquez de la Plata y Orozco (30 August 1740 – 17 December 1818) was a Spanish colonial functionary, and a member of the First Government Junta of Chile. He was born in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

on August 30, 1740, to a very aristocratic family. The son of Rodrigo Márquez de la Plata y García de Celis and of Luisa de Orozco y Martel. His father was a judge, and latter a member of the Council of Indies. He began his studies at the Colegio de Santo Tomás and then obtained his degree in Canon Law at the University of Seville, graduating as a lawyer. He began his career as a member of the Council of Indies. In 1776, he was sent to America. He lived first in the city of

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, becoming an Appeals Judge (''Oidor'') between 1781 and 1783. In that year he was promoted to Governor of

Huancavelica Huancavelica () or Wankawillka in Quechua is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the department of Huancavelica and according to the 2017 census had a population of 49,570 people. The city was established on August 5, 1572 by the Viceroy ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, a position he held between 1784 and 1789. He was then named Appeals Judge to the city of

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

. In 1786, he married the Chilean María Antonia Calvo de Encalada y Recabarren. The ceremony was held by proxy, since the groom could not leave his position in Lima. In 1798, he was named President of the Appeals Court (''Real Audiencia'') of

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

. By then, he was famous for his knowledge, equanimity and good sense. In 1803, he travelled to Chile to assume the position of Regent of the Appeals Court of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. After Mateo de Toro y Zambrano took over as Royal Governor in 1810, he was convinced to call an open meeting of the leading citizens of the city to decide the political future of the colony. He convened such a meeting for the morning of September 18, 1810. The discussion ended with the conformation of the First Government Junta of Chile where Márquez de la Plata was elected as one of the members. After the death of Toro y Zambrano, the illness (and posterior death) of the Vice President, Bishop José Martínez de Aldunate, and the disgrace of their appointed successor Juan Martinez de Rozas as a consequence of the Figueroa mutiny, which Márquez de la Plata had to put down, he was elected president, a position he held between April 2 and July 4, 1811. In September 1811 he was named a member of the New Appeals Court (''Tribunal de Apelaciones''), the body that replaced the colonial Appeals Court (''Real Audiencia'') and became its doyen. In 1814, after the

Battle of Rancagua The Battle of Rancagua, also known in Chile as the Disaster of Rancagua, occurred on October 1, 1814, to October 2, 1814, when the Spanish Army under the command of Mariano Osorio defeated the Chilean forces led by Bernardo O’Higgins. This ...

, he was forced to exile himself to Mendoza. As a difference with most émigrés he travelled with almost all his fortune. According to the contemporary sources, he carried 5,000 pesos in silver coin, 14 tuns of crafted silver and 7 chests with clothes and jewelry. He finally returned to Chile in 1818, after independence, and was named Regent of the Justice Courts, a position he held until his death later in the same year, at the age of 78.

References

External links

Basic Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marquez de la Plata, Fernando 1740 births 1818 deaths Viceroyalty of Peru people Heads of state of Chile People of the Chilean War of Independence

See also

References

External links