[1] In 1530 the king of Spain handed it over to Antonio Sedeño who was its first governor until 1535 when he abandoned it due to ongoing litigation over jurisdiction with the Province of Cumaná.
Its first capital was San José de Oruña, founded in 1592 and destroyed by the English pirate Walter Raleigh.
The province was returned to the jurisdiction of the Santo Domingo Audiencia and placed in the Captaincy General of Venezuela in 1777.
The last Spanish Governor of Trinidad, Don José Maria Chacón founded San Fernando in 1784 and devoted much of his time to developing the island.
He compelled the province's Cabildo (governing council) to move to Port of Spain, and he limited its powers to the municipality.