List of colonial governors of Florida

The colonial governors of Florida governed Florida during its colonial period (before 1821). The first European known to arrive there was Juan Ponce de León in 1513, but the governorship did not begin until 1565, when Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine and was declared Governor and Adelantado of Florida.[1][2] This district was subordinated to the Viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1763, following the transfer of Florida to Britain, the territory was divided into West Florida and East Florida, with separate governors. This division was maintained when Spain resumed control of Florida in 1783, and continued as provincial divisions with the Spanish Constitution of 1812. The Spanish transferred control of Florida to the United States in 1821, and the organized, incorporated Florida Territory was established on March 30, 1822. This became the modern State of Florida on March 3, 1845.

Flag of New Spain

This article is about the colonial governors of Florida (before statehood). For governors of the State of Florida, see List of governors of Florida.

First Spanish period, 1565–1763
Name Term Notes
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Sep 1565 – Sep 1574  Founder of St. Augustine and Adelantado of the first Florida government; died in office. Lieutenant governors: Esteban de las Alas (Oct 1566 – Aug 1570; deserted); Pedro Menéndez de Avilés II (Aug 1570 – 1571; killed)[3]
Diego de Velasco 1574 – 1576 Acting; previously lieutenant governor (Jul 1571 – 30 Apr 1575)[3]
Hernando de Miranda and Alonso de Solís (murdered)[3] 1576
Gutierre de Miranda 1576 – 1577 acting
Pedro Menéndez Márquez and Rodrigo del Junco (the latter held the governorship between 1590 and 1592) 1577 – 1594 Beginning of the Spanish missions to the Timucua. Vicente González (1577-1578) and Tomás Bernaldo de Quirós (1578-1579) served as interim governors during Márquez' absence.[3] Juan de Posada governed Florida from 1588 to 1589.
Domingo Martínez de Avendaño 1594 – 1595
Alonso de las Alas, Bartolomé de Argüelles, and Juan Menéndez Márquez 1595 – 1597 acting
Gonzalo Méndez de Canço 1597 – 1603
Pedro de Ibarra 1603 – 1610
Juan Fernández de Olivera 1610 – 1612
Juan de Arrazola and Joseph de Olivera 1612 – 1613 acting
Juan Treviño de Guillamas 1613 – 1618
Juan de Salinas 1618 – 1624 Lieutenant governor: Alonso de Pastrana (8 Nov 1622 – ?)[3]
Luis de Rojas y Borja 1624 – 1630 Lieutenant governor: Alonso de Pastrana (17 Aug 1627 – ?)[3]
Andrés Rodríguez de Villegas 1630 – 1631
Nicolás Ponce de León and Eugenio de Espinosa 1631 – 1633 acting
Luis de Horruytiner 1633 – 1638 Apalachee missions established
Damián de Vega Castro y Pardo 1638 – 1645
Benito Ruíz de Salazar Vallecilla 1645 – 1646
Francisco Menéndez Márquez and Pedro Benedit Horruytiner 1646 – 1648 acting
Benito Ruíz de Salazar Vallecilla 1648 – 1651
Nicolás Ponce de León 1651 acting
Pedro Horruytiner Benedit 1651 – 1654 acting
Diego de Rebolledo y Suárez de Aponte 1654 – 1659
Alonso de Aránguiz y Cortés 1659 – 1663
Nicolás Ponce de León II 1663 – 1664 acting
Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega 1664 – 1671
Manuel de Çendoya 1671 – 1673 beginning the built the Castillo de San Marcos
Nicolás Ponce de León II 1673 – 1675 acting
Pablo de Hita y Salazar 1675 – 1680
Juan Márquez Cabrera 1680 – 1687
Pedro de Aranda y Avellaneda 1687 acting
Diego de Quiroga y Losada 1687 – 1693
Laureano de Torres y Ayala, Marquis of Casa Torres 1693 – 1699 finishing the built of the Castillo de San Marcos; Later served as royal governor of Cuba
José de Zúñiga y la Cerda 1699 – 1706 later served as governor of Cartagena de Indias
Francisco de Córcoles y Martínez 1706 – 1716
Pedro de Olivera y Fullana 1716
Juan de Ayala y Escobar 1716 – 1718 acting
Antonio de Benavides 1718 – 1734
Francisco del Moral y Sánchez 1734 – 1737
Manuel Joseph de Justís 1737 acting
Manuel de Montiano 1737 – 1749
Melchor de Navarrete 1749 – 1752
Fulgencio García de Solís 1752 – 1755 acting
Alonso Fernández de Heredia 1755 – 1758
Lucas Fernando de Palacio y Valenzuela 1758 – 1761
Alonso de Cárdenas 1761 – 1762 acting
Melchor Feliú 1762 – 1763 oversaw migration of many Floridanos to Cuba

British period, 1763–1784

East Florida
Name Term Notes
John Hedges 20 Jul 1763 – 30 Jul 1763 capital at St. Augustine (acting governor)
Francis Ogilvie 30 Jul 1763 – 29 Aug 1764 acting governor
James Grant 29 Aug 1764 – 9 May 1771
John Moultrie 9 May 1771 – 1 Mar 1774
Patrick Tonyn 1 Mar 1774 – 12 Jul 1784

West Florida
Name Term Notes
Major General Augustine Prévost 6 Aug 1763 – 20 Oct 1763 Interim military government. Capital at Pensacola
Major Robert Farmar 20 Oct 1763 – Oct 1764 Acting
Commodore George Johnstone Oct 1764 – Jan 1767
Montfort Browne Jan 1767 – 2 April 1769

2 May 1769 - c.Nov 1769

Acting governor.
Captain John Eliot 2 Apr 1769 – 2 May 1769 Committed suicide in office by hanging.
Captain-Lieutenant Elias Durnford c. Nov 1769 – 10 Aug 1770
Peter Chester 10 Aug 1770 – 9 May 1781

Second Spanish period, 1784–1821

East Florida
Name Term Notes
Vicente Manuel de Céspedes y Velasco 12 July 1784 – July 1790 capital at St. Augustine
Juan Nepomuceno de Quesada y Barnuevo July 1790 – March 1796
Bartolomé Morales March 1796 – June 1796 acting governor
Enrique White June 1796 – March 1811
Juan José de Estrada March 1811 – June 1812 Patriot War with U.S.
Sebastián Kindelán y Oregón June 1812 – June 1815 Patriot War with U.S.
Juan José de Estrada June 1815 – January 1816
José María Coppinger January 1816 – 10 July 1821

West Florida
Name Term Notes
Colonel Arturo O'Neill de Tyrone 9 May 1781 – Nov 1792, or in 1794 capital at Pensacola
Carlos Howard Nov 1792 – Aug 1793
Enrique White Aug 1793, or Aug 1794 – Nov 1795
Francisco de Paula Gelabert May 1796 – Sep 1796
Colonel Vicente Folch y Juan Nov 1796 – Mar 1809
Francisco San Maxent Mar 1809 – May 1809 interim; see Apr. 1811
Colonel Vicente Folch y Juan May 1809 - Oct 1809
Francisco San Maxent Dec 1809 - Oct 1810 interim
Francisco Collell Oct 1810 – Feb 1811 interim
Francisco San Maxent Apr 1811 – Jun 1812
Mauricio de Zúñiga Jul 1812 – Apr 1813
Mateo González Manrique May 1813 – Feb 1815
José de Soto Feb 1815 – Mar 1816
Mauricio de Zúñiga Mar 1816 – 15 Sep 1816
Francisco San Maxent Sep 1816 – Nov 1816
José Fascot 27 Nov 1816 – 26 May 1818
Colonel William King 26 May 1818 – 4 February 1819 United States military governor during the First Seminole War
Colonel José María Callava Feb 1819 – 17 July 1821

See also

References
  1. John Worth. "Spanish Florida - People - Governors". uwf.edu. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  2. Cahoon, Ben. U.S. States F-K
  3. Amy Turner Bushnell (1994). Situado and Sabana: Spain's Support System for the Presidio and Mission Provinces of Florida. University of Georgia Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-8203-1712-0.
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