Melchor de Navarrete
| Melchor de Navarrete | |
|---|---|
| 64th Governor of Cartagena | |
|
In office 1739–1742 |
|
| Preceded by | Pedro Fidalgo |
| Succeeded by | Basilio de Gante |
| 37th Royal Governor of La Florida | |
|
In office August 8, 1749 – June 3, 1752 |
|
| Preceded by | Manuel de Montiano |
| Succeeded by | Fulgencio García de Solís |
| 76th Colonial Governor of Yucatán | |
|
In office 1754–1758 |
|
| Preceded by | Juan José de Clou |
| Succeeded by | Alonso Fernández de Heredia |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 17, 1693 Briones, Calahorra, La Rioja (Spain). |
| Died |
August 28, 1761 (aged 68) Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) |
| Spouse(s) | María Micaela de Sanz y de la Roche |
| Profession | Politician and soldier |
Melchor de Navarrete y Bujanda (1693–1761) was a Spanish soldier and administrator who served as governor of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, from 1739 to 1742; of Spanish Florida from 1749 to 1752; and of Yucatán, Mexico, from 1754 to 1758. He was linked to several cases of corruption in Cartagena.
Melchor de Navarrete was born on January 17, 1693, in the town of Briones, Spain, to Francisco Navarrete, the governor of Briones, and Josefa Bujanda y Bañuelos. His siblings were Javier and Teresa de Navarrete y Bujanda. He joined the Spanish Royal Army in his youth and eventually became a field marshal.
In 1736, Navarrete moved to Cartagena to become lieutenant to the king. Three years later, after the death of Governor Pedro Hidalgo, he was appointed acting governor of the city, in charge of administration and food supply, while Admiral Blas de Lezo held the military command. In 1740, Navarrete entered the Order of Santiago and was promoted to the rank of field marshal in the Spanish Royal Army. In 1741, he participated in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias, fighting against the British Admiral, Edward Vernon, who tried to seize the city's fortresss. Navarrete was accompanied by Admiral de Lezo and Viceroy of New Granada Sebastián de Eslava, a lieutenant general in the Spanish Royal Army.
In June, Navarrete wrote a letter to the Marqués de la Ensenada asking him to ensure that food was sent to Cartagena. In July, the city received 100,000 pesos from duties on commerce. In 1742, Navarrete was charged with several crimes by the officers of the Royal Treasury, who demonstrated that Navarrete had given commercial information to a French trader, Jean Lehen Brignon, advising him how to avoid paying royalties on a shipment worth 15,000 pesos, and suspected that Navarrete had taken the commission for himself. In response to these accusations, Viceroy Eslava replaced Navarrete as acting governor of Cartagena with Brigadier Basilio de Gante, and rejected Navarrete's petition to recover his office. The viceroy also suspended Navarrete as royal lieutenant.
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