Arturo O ' Neill Arturo O ' Neill ( January 8 , 1736 – December 9 , 1814 ) was an Irish - born colonel who served the Spanish crown as governor of several places in New Spain ( 1781 – 1794 ) . He came from a lineage that occupied prominent European positions and titles , beginning before the 16th century . Biography . Arturo O ' Neill de Tyrone y O ' Kelly was born in Dublín , Ireland , in January 8 , 1736 . He was third of the five children of Henry O´Neill and Ana O´Kelly . One of his brothers was Lieutenant Colonel Niall O ' Neill ( later Nicolás O ' Neill y O ' Kelley ) . As a youth , Arthur O ' Neill went to Spain in 1752 as a cadet in the Irish regiment . He joined the Spanish royal army very young during the reign of Charles IV of Spain . Achieved grades of lieutenant general and field marshal . He served in the campaign of Portugal , 1762 . He was then in garrison Oran and later , in 1775 , in issuing Algiers . He was present in the campaign against Brazil , which contributed to the seizure of Fort Santa Cruz , Santa Catalina Island , which served as governor until the end of the war . He was promoted to colonel of the Regiment of Hibernia after serving with distinction against the British at Pensacola in March 1781 . At the battle ' s conclusion , on May 9 , 1781 , he was appointed governor of Spanish West Florida in the service of New Spain , proving to be an effective diplomat and an able administrator . Later he became a member of the Supreme War Council and a lieutenant general of allies against Napoleon , replacing the governor Miguel de Uztaraiz on the council . On March 10 , 1792 Arturo O ' Neill became Marqués del Norte ( Marquis of North ) . He was appointed governor and captain general of Yucatan on December 13 , 1792 , but the office was expanded him with the quartermaster on January 20 , 1793 , taking over possession of it on June 29 , 1793 . He replaced Joseph Sabido de Vargas , who held the position of Interim , following the murder of the owner Lucas de Galvez , which occurred on June 22 last year . During his government he took urgent measures to prevent the spread of the rabies that came to represent a public health risk in the Yucatan . He expanded the supply of teachers for schools and also had to tackle smuggling that was done from across the province of Cuba and the islands the Caribbean Sea . He faced harassment by English buccaneers in Walix ( Belize ) where he led an expedition which resulted in bad end to the belief that England had conquered eastern territories of the Peninsula . He carried out the seizure of the ship , ' La Bella Jane ' in San Francisco de Campeche . In 1794 , O ' Neill stepped down as governor of West Florida and was replaced later by Enrique White . He wrote a book entitled " Description , population and census of the Province of Yucatan in New Spain " in 1795 , which was never printed . He served as governor of Yucatan until October 19 , 1800 , where he gave it to Benito Perez Valdelomar . Back in Madrid was appointed Minister of the Royal and Supreme Council of War . His last position was as a soldier in the army of Spain against Napoleon . Arturo O´Neill died in Madrid in December 9 , 1814 . and was buried on the 11th , in a niche in the cemetery of the Gate Wells . Personal life . One of his sons was Patrick O ' Neill .