Ambrose OHiggins, Viceroy of Peru, Dies in Lima

Ambrosio Bernardo O’Higgins y O’Higgins, 1st Marquess of Osorno (c. 1720 – 19 March 1801) born Ambrose Bernard O’Higgins (Ambrós Bearnárd Ó hUiginn, in Irish), was an Irish-Spanish colonial administrator and a member of the O’Higgins family.

He served the Spanish Empire as captain general (i.e., military governor) of Chile (1788–1796) and viceroy of Peru (1796–1801). He was the father of Chilean independence leader Bernardo O’Higgins

In 1796, O’Higgins was appointed Viceroy of Peru, comprising present-day Peru and Chile. As Peru was the second richest colony after New Spain (Mexico) in the Spanish empire, the Viceroyship was one of the most prominent posts in all of Spanish America.

When war was declared between Britain and Spain in 1797, O’Higgins took active measures for the defense of the coast, strengthening the fortifications of Callao and constructing a fort in Pisco. He projected and constructed a new carriage-road from Lima to Callao, and his principal attention during his short administration was directed to the improvement of means of communication.

He died suddenly after a short illness in 1801, and was interred in the Iglesia de San Pablo, now the Jesuit-run Iglesia de San Pedro, Lima.