Born on February 10th 1728 in Realejo Bajo, he was the son of second lieutenant Agustín Hernández Quesada and Beatriz Josefa de Chaves. His family was part of the rural bourgeoisie of the municipality.
For better or worse, Dámaso Antonio de Quesada y Chaves’ works were contemporary of those by José de Viera y Clavijo, who unintentionally outshone his contributions as a draftsman.
He was a clergyman, just like Viera, and travelled to Madrid and Rome, where he consulted some pontifical documents at the Vatican archive in order to illustrate his work. In his work, Dámaso de Quesada deals with the history of the Canary Islands from its origins and early settlers, the Spanish conquest in the 15th century of the seven islands, the economy and politics of the time, to a list in chronological order of the most relevant archbishops, bishops, inhabitants and visitors.
