Pedro Ortiz de la Barriere Castro (1768 – 18 May 1827) was a Spanish politician, military officer, and lawyer who served as the colonial intendant of the Intendancy of San Salvador from 1819 until 1821. He also served the first head of state of the Province of San Salvador (modern-day El Salvador) after the signing of the Act of Independence of Central America from September to November 1821. He was killed in action at the Battle of Milingo [es] during the First Central American Civil War.

Pedro Barriere
1st Political Chief of San Salvador
In office
21 September 1821 – 28 November 1821
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byJosé Matías Delgado
Interim Colonial Intendant of San Salvador
In office
1819 – 21 September 1821
MonarchFerdinand VII
Preceded byJosé María Peinado [es]
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Personal details
Born
Pedro Ortiz de la Barriere Castro

1768
Santo Domingo, Captaincy General of Santo Domingo
Died18 May 1827(1827-05-18) (aged 58–59)
Milingo, El Salvador
Political partyIndependent
Spouse
Ana Paulina Pajares Palacios
(m. 1812; died 1819)
OccupationPolitician, military officer, lawyer
Military service
Allegiance
Years of service?–1827
RankColonel
Battles/wars

Early life edit

Pedro Ortiz de la Barriere Castro was born in 1768 in Santo Domingo, Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, which was part of the Spanish Empire.[1] His father was Pedro Barriere, who was of French descent, and his mother was Josefa de Castro, who was of Spanish descent. Barriere had six older siblings: Juana, Francisca, Josefa, Ana, María, and José.[2] He graduated from the Saint Thomas Aquinas University in Santo Domingo where he earned his doctorate in 1796. Barriere moved to the Captaincy General of Cuba in November 1800 to work as a lawyer.[3]

Political career edit

Barriere entered the service of the colonial government at the end of the eighteenth century.[4] On 3 December 1802, he was appointed as an advisor to the government of the Intendancy of San Salvador after the resignation of Manuel Clavijo,[1][5] but it took until 17 April 1804 for him to assume office[3] due to suspicions about his French ancestry.[1] In 1813, Barriere was appointed as an advisor to the government of the Intendancy of Comayagua [es]; he assumed office on 31 July 1813.[3] In 1818, he returned to San Salvador and was given the additional duties of being the legal advisor to Colonial Intendant José María Peinado [es].[1] In 1819, following Peinado's death, Barriere succeeded Peinado as colonial intendant in an interim capacity.[6] On 15 September 1821, the Act of Independence of Central America was signed in Guatemala City, of which Barriere was a signatory;[7] Barriere remained as the political chief of San Salvador[8] and swore allegiance to Central American independence.[9]

Various liberal political leaders called upon Barriere to hold elections to send representatives to the Consultive Junta—the Central American government—and in response, he called for the formation of a "junior economic and consultive junta" ("junta subalterna económica y consultiva"). On 4 October 1821, Barriere retracted his pledge to form a junta resulting in unrest; he ordered soldiers to disperse crowds of protestors[10] and ordered the arrests of Manuel José Arce, Domingo Antonio de Lara [es], Juan Manuel Rodríguez, Manuel Castillo, and Mariano Fagoaga [es]. Barriere sent those he had arrested to Guatemala, fearing that they would lead a popular revolution against him in El Salvador.[4][8] Barriere sent a report of the incident to the Consultive Junta in Guatemala, and in response, on 11 October, the Consultive Junta named Salvadoran priest José Matías Delgado to replace Barriere as political chief in order to maintain peace in San Salvador[11][12] and Delgado released the men who Barriere had arrested.[4] Although Delgado was named as Barriere's successor on 11 October, Delgado did not actually replace Barriere until 28 November.[13]

After being replaced as colonial intendant, Barriere moved to Guatemala and obtained the rank of colonel.[4] On 19 April 1822, the government of the First Mexican Empire bestowed him the title of "Honorary Oidor of the Audiencia of Guatemala" for his service to the empire; on 2 July 1822, Barriere swore his allegiance to the empire.[9]

Death edit

Barriere was killed during the Battle of Milingo [es] on 18 May 1827 during the First Central American Civil War. He died commanding forces loyal to Arce—who had since become president of the Federal Republic of Central America and whom Barriere had since become an ally of—against those of Francisco Morazán.[1][6]

Personal life edit

On 8 May 1812, Barriere married Ana Paulina Pajares Palacios,[3][9] who was the daughter of Antonio Victoriano Pajares and Juana Felipa Palacios.[6] Barriere had two step children: Antonio and Juana. Pajares died in 1819.[3]

See also edit

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Escalante Arce.
  2. ^ Larrazábal Blanco 1967, p. 240.
  3. ^ a b c d e Lacoste 2021, p. 245.
  4. ^ a b c d Casa Presidencial.
  5. ^ Beteta 1804, p. 204.
  6. ^ a b c Cruz Pacheco 1981, p. 480.
  7. ^ Bancroft 1887, pp. 45–46.
  8. ^ a b Ayala Benítez 2007, p. 134.
  9. ^ a b c Universidad Mesoamericana.
  10. ^ Bancroft 1887, p. 45.
  11. ^ Ayala Benítez 2007, pp. 134–135.
  12. ^ Stanger 1932, p. 36.
  13. ^ Meléndez Chaverri 2000, p. 257.

Bibliography edit

Books edit

  • Ayala Benítez, Luis Ernesto (2007). La Iglesia y la Independencia Política de Centro América: "El Caso de El Estado de El Salvador" (1808–1833) [The Church and the Political Independence of Central America: "The Case of the State of El Salvador (1808–1833)"]. Ecclesiastical History (in Spanish). Rome, Italy: Gregorian University Press. ISBN 9788878391024. OCLC 175654188. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  • Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1887). History of Central America: 1801–1887. Vol. III. San Francisco, United States: History Company, Publishers. OCLC 631068242. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  • Beteta, Ignacio (1804). La Gazeta de Guatemala [The Guatemala Gazette] (in Spanish). Vol. VII. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  • Cruz Pacheco, José Santa; Cadenas y Vicent, Vicente (1981). "Relacion de los Alcaldes Mayores de San Salvador" [Relation of the Greater Mayors of San Salvador]. Hidalguía – La Revista de Genealogia, Nobelza y Armas [Hidalguía - The Magazine of Genealogy, Nobility and Arms] (in Spanish). Vol. 166–167. Madrid, Spain: Publicación Bimenstral. pp. 469–480. ISSN 0018-1285. OCLC 310958234.
  • Lacoste, Marie-Pierre (2021). Les Intendants de la Vice-Royauté de la Nouvelle-Espagne (1764–1821): Répertoire Prosopographique [The Intendants of the Vice Royalty of New Spain (1764–1821): Prosopographic Directory] (in French). Madrid, Spain: Casa de Velázquez. ISBN 9788490963401. OCLC 1245348360. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  • Larrazábal Blanco, Carlos (1967). Familias Dominicanas [Dominican Families] (in Spanish). Vol. 1. Academia Dominicana de la Historia. OCLC 2183980. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  • Meléndez Chaverri, Carlos (2000). José Matías Delgado, Prócer Centroamericano [José Matías Delgado, Central American Hero] (in Spanish). Vol. 8 (2nd ed.). San Salvador, El Salvador: Dirección de Publicaciones e Impresos. ISBN 9789992300572. OCLC 1035898393. Retrieved 16 January 2024.

Journals edit

Web sources edit

Political offices
New office Political Chief of San Salvador
1821
Succeeded by
Preceded by Colonial Intendant of San Salvador
(interim)

1819–1821
Office abolished