Juan José Pérez Hernández
Spanish explorer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Pérez and the second or maternal family name is Hernández.
Juan José Pérez Hernández (born Joan Perés[1] c. 1725 – November 3, 1775), often simply Juan Pérez, was an 18th-century Spanish explorer. He was the first known European to sight, examine, name, and record the islands near present-day British Columbia, Canada. Born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, he first served as a piloto in western Spanish colonial North America on Manila galleons en route to and from the Philippines in the Spanish East Indies. In 1768, he was assigned to the Pacific port of San Blas, in the Viceroyalty of New Spain (present day Mexico), and acquired the rank of ensign (alférez).