José María Chacón signed at least one edict.
Cedula ( Latin ) means , in general , an order or authorization ; in earlier times such a document on the authority of a king , or a royal decree , which for Spain and Spanish America was a decree issued directly by the monarch . José María Chacón . He was responsible for signing the Cedula of Population in 1783 ( which led to extensive French immigration to Trinidad ) , founded the city of San Fernando in 1784 and surrendered the island of Trinidad to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby in 1797 .