Gregorio de Salinas Varona

Gregorio de Salinas Varona (1647 or 1650 in Tormé, Burgos, Spain – 1720 in Mexico City, New Spain, Spanish Empire) was a noble and Spanish administrator who served as governor in Texas, Nueva Extremadura, New Spain, Nuevo Leon (the latter two localized in Mexico), Honduras and Pensacola. He was from Burgos and was descended from a noble family of civil servants with roots in the towns of Salinas de Rosío and Medina de Pomar.

Family origins

Gregorio de Salinas Varona is the founder of the Mexican branch of his house. His great grandnephew, Anselmo Manuel de Salinas Varona, father of Antonio Salinas y Castañeda, founded another New World branch in the Viceroyalty of Peru, where his descendants became influential.

He was the son of Francisco de Salinas Varona, an Escribano Real residing in Torme. Francisco died on 18 October 1683. His mother was Magdalena Ruiz, who was originally from the town of Bisnela.

Biography

Gregorio was born in 1647 in Burgos. He entered the army at a very young age and managed to attain rapid promotion. He served for a period of 19 or 24 He held his post as Governor of Pensacola until 1718 when he was replaced by Captain Matamoros de Isla.

He was made Governor of the Presidio de Santa María de Galve, likely in 1718 after his tenure in Pensacola.

Death

Gregorio de Salinas Varona died in 1720 or shortly after that date in Mexico City.