As much as I can determine, the sole source for tracing Miguel del Fierro's Spanish origins to Betanzos, Galicia is a document circuated by Jesus del Fierro Magsaysay, the brother of the President. Because of the comprehensiveness of this document in detailing the Philippine history and genealogy of the del Fierro clan, it is almost certain that a comissioned researcher was engaged to find out whatever info is presented about Miguel del Fierro. What is intriguing is the document is silent on how the del Fierro roots of Jesus and the president comes from their great great grandmother Mariquita, eldest of the 3 daughters of Fernando. Perhaps the research could have traced this relationship but wanted to keep it confidential for his own reasons. Even now, it is not known who Mariquita married to bear her son Serafin. There is also no record of who Serafin partnered with to sire his son Juan Crisostomo del Fierro, the maternal grandfather of President Magsaysay.
But the focus of this discussion is to talk about Fernando del Fierro's Spanish origins, particularly the aristocratic family he was supposed to have come from. Contrary to what one would expect, del Fierro is a very rare surname to be found in Spain, and even rarer in Galicia. It is more common in Mexico and South America and in the Philippines perhaps for reasons to be explained shortly. What is more usual n Spain is the surname Fierro which is more often found in Villadolid near the center of the country rather than Galicia which is by its northern coast. So it will be quite a wild shot in the dark to
just go to Betanzos expecting to find a list of Del Fierro's in the city phonebook, much less those coming from nobility dating back to the late 1700s. Given all this, it is perhaps wiser to first see if the original research papers comissioned by Jesus Magsaysay can be found and the basis for locating Fernando's origins in Betanzos cam be confirmed.
What is an interesting alternative possibility that may be worth exploring is Fernando may have come to the Philippines not directly from Spain but by way of Mexico or South America. His name is not listed in the military archives of officers who served in the Royal Spanish Armada. Instead infantry and naval officers assigned to the Philippines were recruited out of New Spain aka Mexico where the Spanish monarchy set up a viceroyalty to run its colonies in the Pacific.
Fernando according to the life diary of his son-in-law was indeed a marine lieutenant or naval captain near the end of the 18th or the start of the 19th century before he was appointed military governor of Samar and then Zambales. He probably did not start as an ordinary seaman but as was the custom in the Spanish military began as an officer if he came from a family of lower nobility. He was indeed born in Spain because to be a provincial military governor one had to be a peninsulare or born there to provide assurance of loyalty to the crown.
So among the very few aristocratic families in Spain around that era was the one that started with the marriage of 1rst Marquis de Aviles Jose Itubirde and Isabel Maria Carmen del Fierro y Brito. Jose was a military officer with the dragoons and distinguished himself in battle and the crown rewarded him with nobility.Among his many sons who followed in his military footsteps and followed him as Maquis of Aviles was Gabriel Miguel Aviles del Fierro. Except that coming from lower nobility, Gabriel had to cut his teeth as a junior army officer officer and prove himself in battle. At the time, the lure of the rich colonies in Mexico, Peru, and Chile with its unpacified areas was where a young officer could best seek fand fortune. And this is what he was able to accomplish. Born in 1735, he became a governor general of Peru and then Chile before his death in 1810.
So its very possible but unproven that Fernando may have been a cousin or nephew of Gabriel who had a dozen siblings who were inclined to follow military careers. What is worth knowing at the time was that the plum assignments were in Mexico and South America and service in the Philippines was much less desireable because it took a galleon six to eight months of hazardous and difficult sailing to return to Veracruz and another three back to Spain. So it would not be surprising that upon arriving in Mexico, the only openings for Fernando was to serve aboard Manila Galleons that plied twice a year between Veracuz and Manila.
What is coincidental that in doing so, these galleons would pass and stop by Samar as the first and last stop before docking in Manila or heading back to Mexico. That he would be appointed as military governor of Samar would be logical as the number one threat to the galleons laden with silver and Chinese luxuries were the Moros and Dutch privateers and there was a need for someone with military experience and familiarity with local waters to deal with the threats.
If indeed, Fernando came from the Aviles del Fierro family, then perhaps the place to start is Barcelona where Jose the 1rst Maquis came from and where he most likely met Isabel del Fierro and her family. Of course, Chile and Peru might be eorth exploring but unfortunately Gabriel wassd's too busy with his military and political career and he only had one daughter.
