The Governors of Colonial Florida, 1565-1821
Below are lists of all Florida governors throughout the entire colonial era, including the First Spanish Period (1565-1763), British Period (1763-1781/1783), and Second Spanish Period (1781/1783-1821), along with the governors of Louisiana while under Spanish control. The First Spanish governors listed below is based in large part on my own extensive direct work with original documents in the Archivo General de Indias, while the subsequent lists below are based principally on secondary sources, though occasionally adjusted based on my own research. While I do not claim that these are 100% accurate and complete, they should at least provide a useful list for anyone interested in the governorship of colonial Florida. I would encourage anyone with documentary evidence of any errors, omissions, or additions to contact me via email so I can continue to refine the list.
First Spanish St. Augustine / First Spanish Pensacola / British East and West Florida / Spanish Louisiana / Second Spanish East and West Florida
The Governors of First Spanish St. Augustine, 1565-1763
The following list includes data I have compiled between 1988 and 2007 regarding the official terms of the governors of colonial Spanish Florida, including royally-appointed governors (in bold)and interim governors (in regular type). No subordinate lieutenant governors are included in this list, though many are known to have governed during the temporary absence of the primary office-holder, or as provincial lieutenants in the various mission provinces. Dates of appointment are not included, though dates of installation and succession or death are provided to the level of specificity currently known. This information was compiled from a multiplicity of sources, initially based on published lists and then substantially revised over the course of many years based on information contained in a variety of primary documents.
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (September 8, 1565-September 17, 1574; residencia in AGI EC 154A)
Diego de Velasco (September 17, 1574-February 24, 1576)
Hernando de Miranda (February 24-September 5, 1576)
Gutierre de Miranda (September 5, 1576-1577; residencia in AGI EC 154B)
Pedro Menéndez Márquez (1577-July 9, 1594)
Domingo Martínez de Avendaño (July 9, 1594-November 24, 1595; residencia in AGI EC 154B)
Alonso de las Alas, Bartolomé de Argüelles, and Juan Menéndez Márquez (November 24, 1595-June 2, 1597)
Gonzalo Méndez de Canzo (June 2, 1597-October 20, 1603)
Pedro de Ybarra (October 20, 1603-1610; residencia in AGI EC 154B)
Juan Fernández de Olivera (1610-November 23, 1612)
Juan de Arraçola and Joseph de Olivera (November 23, 1612-1613)
Juan de Trevino Guillamas (1613-August 2, 1618)
Juan de Salinas (August 2, 1618-October 28, 1624)
Luís de Rojas y Borja (October 28, 1624-June 23, 1630; residencia in AGI EC 154B)
Andrés Rodríguez de Villegas (June 23, 1630-September 21, 1631; residencia in AGI EC 154B)
Nicolás Ponce de León and Eugenio de Espinosa (September 21, 1631-July 29, 1633; residencia in AGI EC 154B)
Luís de Horruytiner (July 29, 1633-November 26, 1638)
Damián de Vega, Castro, y Pardo (November 26, 1638-April 10,1645; residencia in AGI EC 155A)
Benito Ruíz de Salazar Vallecilla (April 10, 1645-April 11, 1646; residencia in AGI EC 155B-C)
Francisco Menéndez Márquez and Pedro Benedit Horruytiner (April 11, 1646-January 8, 1648)
Benito Ruíz de Salazar Vallecilla (January 8, 1648-May 14, 1651; residencia in AGI EC 155B-C)
Nicolás Ponce de León (May 14-October 19, 1651; residencia in AGI EC 155A)
Pedro Benedit Horruytiner(October 19, 1651-June 18, 1654; residencia in AGI EC 155B-C)
Diego de Rebolledo y Suárez de Aponte (June 18, 1654-February 20, 1659; residencia in AGI CD 963-964)
Alonso de Aranguiz y Cotes (February 20, 1659-November 2, 1663)
Nicolás Ponce de León (November 2, 1663-December 30, 1664)
Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega (December 30, 1664-July 6, 1671; residencia in AGI EC 155C)
Manuel de Cendoya (July 6, 1671-July 8, 16731; residencia in AGI EC 155C)
Nicolás Ponce de León (July 8, 1673-May 3, 1675)
Pablo de Hita Salazar (May 3, 1675-September 28, 1680; residencia in AGI EC 156A)
Juan Márquez Cabrera (September 28, 1680-April 11, 1687; residencia in AGI EC 156A-C)
Pedro de Aranda y Avellaneda (April 11-August 20, 1687; residencia in AGI EC 156A-C)
Diego de Quiroga y Losada (August 20, 1687-September 21, 1693; residencia in AGI EC 157A)
Laureano de Torres y Ayala (September 21, 1693-1699; residencia in AGI EC 157A)
Joseph de Zuñiga y Cerda (1699-April 9, 1706; residencia in AGI SD 858)
Francisco de Corcoles y Martínez (April 9, 1706-July 13, 1716; residencia in AGI EC 157B-C)
Pedro de Olivera y Fullana (July 13-October 30, 1716)
Juan de Ayala Escobar (October 30, 1716-August 3, 1718)
Antonio de Benavides, Bazan, y Molina (August 3, 1718-May 21, 1734)
Francisco del Moral Sanchez (May 21, 1734-March 12, 1737; residencia in AGI EC 157B-C)
Manuel Joseph de Justís (March 12-September 11, 1737)
Manuel de Montiano (September 11, 1737-August 8, 1749)
Melchor de Navarrete (August 8, 1749-June 3, 1752)
Fulgencio García de Solís(June 3, 1752-April 18, 1755)
Alonso Fernández de Heredia (April 18, 1755-April 21, 1758)
Lúcas Fernando de Palacio y Valenzuela (April 21, 1758-December 6, 1761)
Alonso de Cárdenas (December 7, 1761-March 20, 1762)
Melchor Feliú (March 20, 1762-July 27, 1763)
The Governors of First Spanish Pensacola, 1698-1763
Following the 1686 "rediscovery" of what was then christened as the "Bahia de Panzacola" along the northern Gulf of Mexico coastline far west of its Florida colony, and the subsequent maritime and terrestrial exploration of the bay in 1693, Spain finally established a permanent Spanish presence in Pensacola in 1698, administered as a presidio subordinate to New Spain and supplied principally through Veracruz, Mexico (and thus distinct from St. Augustine). The following governors served through various relocations/incarnations of the presidio, including Santa María de Galve (1698-1719), Bahia de San Joseph (1719-1722), Isla de Santa Rosa, Punta de Sigüenza (1722-1756), and San Miguel de Panzacola (1756-1763).
Andrés de Arriola, 1698-1709
Joseph de Guzman (interim) 1709-1711
Gregorio de Salinas Varona, 1711-1717
Juan Joseph de la Torres (interim), 1717-1718
Juan Pedro Matamoros de Ysla, 1718-1719
Gregorio de Salinas Baraona, 1719-1720
Joseph Primo de Ribera, 1720-1721
Pedro Primo de Ribera, 1722-1734
Diego de Escobar, 1734-1740
Nicolás Ximénez de Florencia (interim), 1740-1741
Gervasio Cruzat y Góngora, 1740-1742
Juan de Yarza y Ascona, 1742-1752
Nicolás Ximénez de Florencia (interim), 1752-1753
Santiago Benito Eraso, 1753-1757
Miguel Román de Castilla y Lugo, 1757-1761
Diego Ortíz Parrilla, 1761-1763
The Governors of British Florida, 1763-1781/1783
The British formally divided Florida into East and West colonies, an administrative innovation that was subsequently maintained by the Spanish after their return following the American Revolution in 1781-1783.
East Florida (1763-1783)
James Grant, 1763-1770
John Moultrie, 1771-1774
Patrick Tonyn, 1774-1783
West Florida (1763-1781)
George Johnstone, 1763-1767
Montforte Brown, 1767-1769
John Eliot, 1769
Elias Durnford, 1769-1770
Peter Chester, 1770-1781
The Governors of Spanish Louisiana, 1766-1803
Under the terms of the secret 1762 Treaty of Fontainebleau during the Seven Years War, French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River was ceded to Spain. Consequently, even as Spain ceded all of Florida to the British under the terms of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, they maintained a broad presence immediately west of what had just become British Florida (extending at that point all the way to the Mississippi River). The first Spanish governor did not arrive until 1766, though he was expelled by French residents in 1768, resulting in Spanish control returning in 1769. The Spanish administered Louisiana until 1802, when it was ceded to the French under Napoleon Bonaparte (taking effect in 1803, shortly before the United States completed the Louisiana Purchase).
Antonio de Ulloa, 1766-1768
Charles Philippe Aubry, 1768-1769
Alejandro O'Reilly, 1769-1769
Luis de Unzaga, 1770-1777
Bernardo de Gálvez, 1777-1785
Esteban Rodríguez Miró, 1785-1791
Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet y Bosoist (Baron de Carondelet), 1791-1797
Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, 1797-1799
Francisco Bouligny, 1799-1799
Sebastián Calvo de la Puerta y O'Farrill, 1799-1801
Nicolás María Vidal, 1799-1801
Juan Manuel de Salcedo, 1801-1803
The Governors of Second Spanish Florida, 1781/1783-1821
During its final four decades as a colony, Second Spanish Florida was administered as two colonies under the jurisdiction of Havana within the Viceroyalty of New Spain, with West Florida initially falling under the intermediate jurisdiction of Spanish Louisiana in New Orleans before 1803.
East Florida (1783-1821)
Vicente Manuel de Céspedes y Velasco , 1783-1790
Juan Nepomuceno de Quesada y Barnuevo , 1790-1795
Bartolomé Morales , 1795
Enrique White , 1796-1811
Juan José de Estrada, 1811-1812
Sebastián Kindelán y Oregón , 1812-1815
Juan José de Estrada, 1815-1816
José Coppinger , 1816-1821
West Florida (1781-1821)
Arturo O'Neill de Tyrone y O'Kelly , 1781-1793
Carlos Howard , 1793
Enrique White , 1793-1796
Francisco de Paula Gelabert , 1796
Vicente Folch y Juan , 1796-1811
Francisco San Maxent , 1811-1812
Mauricio de Zúñiga, 1812-1813
Mateo González Manrique , 1813-1815
José de Soto , 1815-1816
Mauricio de Zúñiga, 1816
Francisco Maximiliano de San Maxent , 1816
José Masót , 1816-1819
José María Callava , 1819-1821