He was born in Seville to Josefa Arcadia Rodríguez and Nicolás Ignacio del Campo y Cuesta, First Marquis of Loreto.

His father was of Flemish descent, and his original family name, van der Velde, was Hispanicized to del Campo.

He became an honest and capable administrator, and in 1785 initiated the improvement and expansion of the Real Audiencia de Buenos Aires created in 1783 by his predecessor.

The other three comprised Buenos Aires and the region south to Patagonia; Córdoba; and Salta, including the present Argentine Northwest.

[4] He also granted bereavement benefits for widows and orphans of Navy personnel; the 1785 edict created the first pension system in what today is Argentina.