François de Beauharnois de la Chaussaye, Baron de Beauville
Encyclopedia
François de Beauharnois de la Chaussaye, Baron de Beauville or François de Beauharnais de La Boëche / Boische (bap 19 September 1665 / 1668 – 8 or 9 October 1746, La Chaussée, near Orléans) was a French naval and colonial administrator in France itself and in New France
, and a member of the House of Beauharnais
.
and a chevalier de Saint-Louis), a grandson of a premier maître d’hôtel ordinaire du roi (1652) and great-grandson of an Orléans merchant known as "one of the city's richest citizens". François's brothers included Charles de Beauharnois de la Boische, Marquis de Beauharnois (who became Governor General of New France
in 1726) and Claude de Beauharnois de Beaumont et de Villechauve
(a French naval officer who three times commanded the ships that restocked the troops in New France)
By a marriage between a female Beauharnais and a male from the Phélypeaux
family, he also found himself a cousin of chancellor
and Secretary of State of the Navy
Louis Phélypeaux de Pontchartrain. Pontchartrain's son, Jérôme Phélypeaux de Pontchartrain, made François his protégé and between 1706 and 1710 sought a beneficial marriage alliance for him, in the end marrying him Anne, daughter of the sieur Des Gretz, the rich exempt of the Paris police.
and on 1 April the following year received his commission as commissaire ordinaire, serving in that role at Toulon
then Rochefort
, Le Havre
and Brest
until 1702. The creation of "charges vénales" marked the de facto suppression of "commissions ordinaires" and Beauharnais thus left the service.
To avoid François having to pay for the purchase of a commission, and to gain experience for his further career progression in France, Jérôme Pontchartrain made François intendant of New France
on the recall of Jean Bochart de Champigny
, leaving from Le Havre
and arriving in Quebec
in 1702. As Jérôme's protégé, he was fairly free to make decisions that might be counter to the wishes of the governor, Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil
who arrived in 1703. At this time the only real business of New France
was the fur trade
. However, the death of Antoine-François Phélypeaux d’Herbault on 10 October 1704 after the Battle of Vélez-Málaga (August 1704) freed up the position of intendant of the navy (intendant des armées navales), which Jérôme (as Secretary of State of the Navy
) then assigned to François. Thus, after a three year stay, François left Canada in December 1705 and took up the new role on 1 January 1706.
On 1 January 1710, Beauharnais became intendant des classes following the reforms of Pierre Arnoul but he had little time to exercise his new functions - the death of Michel Bégon
on 13 March 1710 left the intendances of Rochefort
and of the généralité
of La Rochelle
vacant. Beauharnais took up them both on 24 March 1710, but in 1715 had to abandon that of La Rochelle on the Regent
's orders, under the pretext that he wasn't the maître des requêtes
(Beauharnais was nevertheless offered the chance to buy that généralité, but refused). Following pressure on Maurepas, Beauharnais was also dismissed from the intendance of Rochefort and was made intendant of the navy for a second time on 1 April 1739.
François de Beauharnais thus retired to his lands at Boëche, the old name of the seigneurie of La Chaussée (or la Chaussaye), located in the faubourg
s of Orléans, and died there on 9 October 1746.
. The king gifted him, by a brevet of 2 April 1707, the land of Port-Maltais (river comprising four places of the bank, two in the depths, with the adjacent islands). On 25 June 1707, by letters patent, this land was formed into the barony of Banville.
At the end of his life, Beauharnais enjoyed several pensions which totalled an annual income of 21,200 livres. His will ruled for his succession by his two nephews, sons of his younger brother Beauharnais de Beaumont. The older of the two, the marquis de Beauharnais, lieutenant général des armées navales, broke the will by dividing the inheritance between all the nephews and nieces, including Michel Bégon fils
, premier commis du bureau des Fonds.
The family Eslandoost de Beauville is the last one of the heirs of François de Beauharnois de la Chaussaye to bear his name.
, François de Beauharnais arms were registered on 23 December 1699, at its Brest office, as : d’argent, à une fasce de sable, accompagnée de trois merlettes de même, rangées en chef.
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, and a member of the House of Beauharnais
House of Beauharnais
The House of Beauharnais or Beauharnois is a French noble house. It is now represented by the Duke of Leuchtenberg, descendant in male line of Eugène de Beauharnais.-History:...
.
Family
François de Beauharnais was the son of a lawyer in the Parlement (who was also a lieutenant général at the siege of OrléansOrléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
and a chevalier de Saint-Louis), a grandson of a premier maître d’hôtel ordinaire du roi (1652) and great-grandson of an Orléans merchant known as "one of the city's richest citizens". François's brothers included Charles de Beauharnois de la Boische, Marquis de Beauharnois (who became Governor General of New France
Governor General of New France
Governor General of New France was the vice-regal post in New France from 1663 until 1760 and was the last French vice-regal post. It was replaced by the British post of Governor of the Province of Quebec following the fall of New France...
in 1726) and Claude de Beauharnois de Beaumont et de Villechauve
Claude de Beauharnois de Beaumont et de Villechauve
Claude de Beauharnois de Beaumont et de Villechauve was a French naval officer from a prominent French family with significant connections to the history of New France. A brother, François de Beauharnois was intendant of New France from 1702 to 1705...
(a French naval officer who three times commanded the ships that restocked the troops in New France)
By a marriage between a female Beauharnais and a male from the Phélypeaux
Phélypeaux
Phélypeaux is the name of a French family from Blésois region . Its two principal branches were those of the lords of Herbault, La Vrillière, and Saint Florentin, and of the counts of Pontchartrain and Maurepas...
family, he also found himself a cousin of chancellor
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
and Secretary of State of the Navy
Secretary of State of the Navy (France)
The Secretary of State of the Navy was one of the four or five specialized secretaries of state in France during the Ancien Régime. This Secretary of State was responsible for the French navy and for French colonies...
Louis Phélypeaux de Pontchartrain. Pontchartrain's son, Jérôme Phélypeaux de Pontchartrain, made François his protégé and between 1706 and 1710 sought a beneficial marriage alliance for him, in the end marrying him Anne, daughter of the sieur Des Gretz, the rich exempt of the Paris police.
Life
François's career was considerably accelerated by Jérôme's ministerial favour - he became écrivain principal straightaway on 18 April 1691 at ToulonToulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
and on 1 April the following year received his commission as commissaire ordinaire, serving in that role at Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
then Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
, Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
and Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
until 1702. The creation of "charges vénales" marked the de facto suppression of "commissions ordinaires" and Beauharnais thus left the service.
To avoid François having to pay for the purchase of a commission, and to gain experience for his further career progression in France, Jérôme Pontchartrain made François intendant of New France
Intendant of New France
New France was governed by three rulers: the governor, the bishop and the intendant, all appointed by the King, and sent from France. The intendant was responsible for finance, economic development, and the administration of justice . He also presided over the Sovereign Council of New France...
on the recall of Jean Bochart de Champigny
Jean Bochart de Champigny
Jean Bochart de Champigny, Sieur de Noroy et de Verneuil, chevalier , was Superintendent of Finances from 1624 to 1626 and intendant of New France from 1686 to 1702. He was the son of Jean Bochart de Champigny, intendant of Rouen, and Marie Boivin.- External links :* *...
, leaving from Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
and arriving in Quebec
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
in 1702. As Jérôme's protégé, he was fairly free to make decisions that might be counter to the wishes of the governor, Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil
Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil
Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil was a French politician, who was Governor-general of New France from 1703 to 1725....
who arrived in 1703. At this time the only real business of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
was the fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
. However, the death of Antoine-François Phélypeaux d’Herbault on 10 October 1704 after the Battle of Vélez-Málaga (August 1704) freed up the position of intendant of the navy (intendant des armées navales), which Jérôme (as Secretary of State of the Navy
Secretary of State of the Navy (France)
The Secretary of State of the Navy was one of the four or five specialized secretaries of state in France during the Ancien Régime. This Secretary of State was responsible for the French navy and for French colonies...
) then assigned to François. Thus, after a three year stay, François left Canada in December 1705 and took up the new role on 1 January 1706.
On 1 January 1710, Beauharnais became intendant des classes following the reforms of Pierre Arnoul but he had little time to exercise his new functions - the death of Michel Bégon
Michel Bégon (1638-1710)
Michel Bégon, known as Michel V Bégon or le Grand Bégon was a French ancien regime official...
on 13 March 1710 left the intendances of Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
and of the généralité
Généralité
Recettes générales, commonly known as généralités , were the administrative divisions of France under the Ancien Régime and are often considered to prefigure the current préfectures...
of La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
vacant. Beauharnais took up them both on 24 March 1710, but in 1715 had to abandon that of La Rochelle on the Regent
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe d'Orléans was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...
's orders, under the pretext that he wasn't the maître des requêtes
Maître des requêtes
Masters of Requests are high-level judicial officers of administrative law in France and other European countries that have existed in one form or another since the Middle Ages.-Old Regime France:...
(Beauharnais was nevertheless offered the chance to buy that généralité, but refused). Following pressure on Maurepas, Beauharnais was also dismissed from the intendance of Rochefort and was made intendant of the navy for a second time on 1 April 1739.
François de Beauharnais thus retired to his lands at Boëche, the old name of the seigneurie of La Chaussée (or la Chaussaye), located in the faubourg
Faubourg
Faubourg is an ancient French term approximating "suburb" . The earliest form is Forsbourg, derived from Latin foris, 'out of', and Vulgar Latin burgum, 'town' or 'fortress'...
s of Orléans, and died there on 9 October 1746.
Properties in France and Canada
Besides his lands near Orléans, Beauharnais profited from his brief time in New France to procure the Banville (or Beauville or Bauville) estate there, located in AcadiaAcadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
. The king gifted him, by a brevet of 2 April 1707, the land of Port-Maltais (river comprising four places of the bank, two in the depths, with the adjacent islands). On 25 June 1707, by letters patent, this land was formed into the barony of Banville.
At the end of his life, Beauharnais enjoyed several pensions which totalled an annual income of 21,200 livres. His will ruled for his succession by his two nephews, sons of his younger brother Beauharnais de Beaumont. The older of the two, the marquis de Beauharnais, lieutenant général des armées navales, broke the will by dividing the inheritance between all the nephews and nieces, including Michel Bégon fils
Michel Bégon (1667-1747)
Michel Bégon de la Picardière was from a French family with a history of service to the King of France in fiscal and judicial matters...
, premier commis du bureau des Fonds.
The family Eslandoost de Beauville is the last one of the heirs of François de Beauharnois de la Chaussaye to bear his name.
Heraldry
On the establishment of the Armorial général de France by Pierre d'HozierPierre d'Hozier
Pierre d'Hozier, seigneur de la Garde , was a French genealogist.He was born in Marseille. He belonged to the household of the Marshal de Créqui and gave him aid in his genealogical investigations....
, François de Beauharnais arms were registered on 23 December 1699, at its Brest office, as : d’argent, à une fasce de sable, accompagnée de trois merlettes de même, rangées en chef.