First Marquis D'Avaray.
Claude Théophile de Béziade .First Marquis D'Avaray 1655-1745.
Marquis d'Avaray, Baron Lussay to Létiou to Courbouson, the Brosse-Montmort, Lord of Munein
Ambassador of France in Solothrun Switzerland (1715)
( From 1530 to 1792 Solothurn was the seat of the French Ambassador to Switzerland)
( From 1530 to 1792 Solothurn was the seat of the French Ambassador to Switzerland)
Field Marshal (1702) and Lieutenant General (1704) in King Louis XIV's Armies.
Grand-Croix honoraire de l'Ordre de Saint-Louis (1719),
puis Grand-Croix de l'Ordre de Saint-Louis (1722)
Armorial des Chevaliers du Saint Esprit.
Armorial des Chevaliers du Saint Esprit.
Claude Theophile d Beziade.
de Besiade 185
House of Avaray de Beziade (Gotha Vol.III)
Dix-neuviéme promotion. Versailles 17 Mai 1739.
Letter dated 1775 in the Marquis's handwriting.
Map the Cantons of Switzerland .Dedicated to the Duke D'Avaray under his coat of arms in the right top corner.
"Claude Theophilus of Besiade, Marquis of Avaray, (1665-1745) assumed, from 1716 to 1726, the function of French ambassador to the Swiss corps. Although still designated by Louis XIV, he will exercise his functions under the Regency and the first years of the reign of Louis XV. Based in Solothurn, the traditional residence of the French ambassadors, Avaray was at the center of the religious conflicts between the Catholic and Protestant cantons. The treaty of alliance between these and the King of France ending in 1723, it was up to the Marquis to convince Protestants of a renewal of the covenant project that will not be realized until 1777. Its embassy was further marked by the financial crisis related to the collapse of the Law system in France following which the governments of several cantons and a large number of Swiss individuals suffered considerable losses of money. In his role as ambassador, Avaray was also the essential link in the recruitment of Swiss regiments to the service of La France. In addition, he was in charge of the smooth running of the trade and the dismantling of the contraband, especially counterfeit money. On May 18, 1717, the fire takes in his residence to Solothurn: everything is burned, including his papers. The "private" correspondence of Avaray constitutes a unique source of funds for the history of Franco-Swiss relations of the old regime: d'Avaray is the only French ambassador to Swiss leagues, of which not only his "official" correspondence with the court (also kept in the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), but also
correspondence with a multitude of Swiss people who often wrote to him not as representatives of their government but as friends or clients. The correspondence emanates from all the important civil and military personalities of Switzerland early eighteenth century and addresses topics like recruitment and training of guards and Swiss officers serving France, trading, smuggling, making fake currency and the application of treaties. A large part of the correspondents were also
informants: D'Avaray was thus meticulously informed about what was going on in the Swiss republics. While its network of correspondents covered all of Switzerland, most of them come from Catholic cantons where many held positions important in the government of their township. The fonds contains in addition letters from France, dispatched by Swiss officers to the service of the King.
If some correspondences consist only of isolated letters, others cover several years. Six people whose correspondence with Avaray was of particular constancy are to emphasize."
Letter dated 1775 in the Marquis's handwriting.
Letter is the Marquis D'Avaray's handwriting 1718.
From when he was the French Ambassador in Switzerland.
Joseph Foucault.Councilor of State for Louis XIV (1643-1721)
Father-in-law of the Marquise d'Avaray.
Catherine Marquise d'Avaray's maternal grandfather :-Clemente II Métezeau .
Architect to King Louis XIII and XIV.
He came from a family of Royal Architects.
Claude-Théophile de Béziade,( 1655-1745), married Catherine Angélique Foucault (1662-1728) on November 6, 1691. She was the daughter of Joseph Foucault Marquis de Magny ,Councilor of State. Director of Finance and Steward of Caen.
Her mother was Marie Métezeau (1621-1670) Her maternal grandfather Clemente II Métezeau was architect to King Louis VIII and XIV .
Her mother was Marie Métezeau (1621-1670) Her maternal grandfather Clemente II Métezeau was architect to King Louis VIII and XIV .
They had four children:-
*Catherine Angélique (1695-1763) Married in 1917 to Jean Louis , Marquis de Boeil.
*Jean Theophilus .Born 1696 and died in 1734 at the battle of Guastalla as Brigadier of the King's Army.
*Olympe ( 1698-1776) Married to Andre le Picart. Marquis d' Aubercourt.
*Charles Theophilus (1701-1746) Marquis D'Avaray .
The Battle of Almanza.
The Duke had a brilliant military career and was lieutenant general of King Louis XIV 's Armies, He fought in Flanders and contributed to the victory at the Battle of Almanza in 1707. He was Ambassador to Switzerland -for ten years -as well as in Belgium. Received the Grand Cross of St. Louis. as well as the Armorial des Chevaliers du Saint Esprit.
He built the beautiful Hotel D'Avaray on the Rue de Grenelle in Paris in 1718 .His ancestors bough land at Avaray in the Loire Valley near Blois in 1626 .He restored the feudal ford to become the Chateau D'Avaray The Duke also had an apartment at the Palace of Versailles and a box at the opera.
He had lost his eldest son, Jean-Théophile in 1734. He was Brigadier of the Royal Army of King Louis XV and died as a result of wounds received at the Battle of Guastalla.
It was his son, Charles, Marquis d'Avaray, who continued the descent.
It was his son, Charles, Marquis d'Avaray, who continued the descent.
Andreas Affolter," Verhandeln mit Republiken: die französisch-eidgenössischen Beziehungen im frühen 18. Jahrhundert "
"Affolter’s book is based on an impressive array of primary sources (he lists twenty-one archives
and libraries for his unpublished material), although his principal source is the correspondence
of Claude-Théophile de Bésiade, Marquis d’Avaray (1655-1745), who served as the French
ambassador to the Swiss Confederation from 1716 to 1726. The two main questions asked by
Affolter concern the status of actors involved in French-Swiss relations and the practices and
channels of their negotiations and communication (see pp. 20-31, 395).
The answers to this set of problems are divided into five chapters. "
D'Avaray livery brass button.
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Francois Marquis de Sourdis. Cardinal and Archbishop of Bordeaux .
This bust by Bernini.
He was an ancestor of Francoise d'Escoubleau .
Marquis de Sourdis.
François d'Escoubleau .Marquis de Sourdis.
(Died September 21 /1707)
(Died September 21 /1707)
Marquis de Sourdis, Lord of Gaujac and Estillac, Lieutenant-General of the King's Army. Governor of Orleans. Captain of the Château & Chasses d'Amboise,
Commander in Guyenne.Governor of Bordeaux.
Escoubleau married Claude Theophile aunt
Marie-Charlotte Béziade d'Avaray (1688-1707) daughter of Theophilus, (1617-1681) Marquis d'Avaray, lord of the Tertre and Létiou, Grand-Bailli d'Épée d'Orléans,
Escoubleau married Claude Theophile aunt
Marie-Charlotte Béziade d'Avaray (1688-1707) daughter of Theophilus, (1617-1681) Marquis d'Avaray, lord of the Tertre and Létiou, Grand-Bailli d'Épée d'Orléans,
and Marie des Estangs,
Marie Charlotte Beziade d'Avaray. Marquise de Sourdis is buried in this church.
Eglise Saint -Bruno de Bordeaux.
The funeral chapel of the D'Sourdis family opens into the choir.The tomb is of Francoise Charles de Sourdis and Marie Charlotte Beziade d'Avaray who died in 1691.
He had this monumental tomb built in memory of his young wife.The bust on the right is if the Marquise and on the left is the Marquis
They lived in the Chateau de Gaujac where Duchess Marie Charlotte died.
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Second Marquis D'Avaray.
Charles Théophile de Béziade -Second Marquise D'Avaray .1701-1746.
Marquis d'Avaray. Baron Lussay to Létiou to Courbouson,the Brose- Montmart Lord of Munein.
The Marquise D'Avaray as a boy.
It was Claude Théofile's son, Charles, Marquis d'Avaray, Marshal of the Camp and Army of the King Louis XV who continued the descent.He was set on entering the church when his older brother died so he resumed his Regiment .
Charles Second Marquis D'Avaray was Grand Bailiff of Orleans and Marshal of the King's Army and Camp On My 30 of 1746 he died of smallpox in Antwerpen Flanders while he was with the Kings Army in Belgian. He died at 45- a year after his father .
In 1735 he married Marguerite Elizabeth Megret d'Etigny d' Serigny .She was the daughter Francoise -Nicolas Mégret Lord of Etign and Passy Councilor of the State ,Audiencier of the Sate. Her mother was Marguerite de Beaucousin.They had three children-
.* Child born and died on 1736 at Avaray,
*Charles Theophilus (1737-1757) Colonel of the Grenadiers of France .In 1754 he married Elizabeth Guillemine Francoise de Baschi at Versailles, She was the daughter of Francis-Count d'Baschi Saint Esteve .Ambassador to Portugal and Venice.Her mother was Charlotte-Victoire Le Normant d'Etoiles.He died at the age of 21.
*Claude Antoine .(1740-1829) Second Duke of Avaray- who followed his son .
He married April 5 1758 Angelique Adelaide Sophie de Mailly-Nesle (1740-1823) daughter of Louis IV Marquis de Mailly-Nesle and Anne Françoise Élisabeth L'Arbaleste of La Borde -Vicomtesse de Melun.
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This is a statue of the brother of Marguerite Elizabeth d'Mégret d'Etigny.
Marquise d'Avaray.
.Antoine Mégret d Etigny (1719-1767)
Marquise d'Avaray.
.Antoine Mégret d Etigny (1719-1767)
This is his wife-: Baronne Francoise Thomas d 'Etigny de Pange .
The Mégret de Sérilly family epitomized the new liberal aristocracy of finance and government office in late 18th-century France - a society fabulously wealthy, sustained by a complex of interrelated dynasties. Originally noblesse de robe from Saint-Quentin in the Aisne, the family was very wealthy , influential and well-connected.
In 1719 the grandfather, Francois-Nicolas Mégret ( the Duchess d'Avaray's father) had acquired the estate of Passy in the Yonne and the seigneuries of Sérilly and d'Etigny in Bourgogne (traditionally the older son took the title "de Sérilly" and the younger "d'Etigny"). His son, Jean Nicolas Mégret, seigneur de Sérilly, became advocate royal, then in 1750 intendant of Alsace; his wife was the oldest daughter of Guillaume-Francois Joly de Fleury, procurer général of the Parliament of Paris. One sister married Jean Pâris de Montmartel, youngest of the four Pâris brothers. The other sister- Marguerite Elizabeth married Charles Theophile d Beziade -Second Marquis D'Avaray
Subsequently the inheritance passed to Antoine Mégret d'Etigny, the "intendant" who, with monies from his father-in-law Jean-Baptiste Thomas de Pange, was able to buy the offices of conseiller Au Parliament and and maître des requêtes, and subsequently became intendant of Auch and Pau,earning for himself a reputation as an enlightened administrator. In 1767, the inheritance passed to Antoine,who from 1772
enjoyed the important and lucrative office of Treasurer General at the War Office, at first concurrently with his maternal uncle, then in his own right.
Hotel Megret d' Etigny in the Marais .Paris.
.
Part of the boudoir of the Hotel Megret d'Etigny.
Victoria and Albert Museum. London.
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FIRST DUKE D'AVARAY
Antoine Louis François de Béziade .First Duke D'Avaray
He was a French aristocrat, companion of Louis XVIII and one of his favorites.
Son of Claude Antoine Beziade..
Louis XVIII and Duke D'Avaray.
Avaray is a French territorial title belonging to a family some of whose
members have been conspicuous in history. The Béarnaise family named
Béziade moved into the province of Orleans in the 17th century, and
there acquired the estate of Avaray. The family served King Henri of
Navarre. In 1667 Claude Theophile De Béziade , Marquis d'Avaray,
obtained the office of grand bailiff of Orleans, which was held by
several of his descendants after him.He subsequently became a
lieutenant-general in 1814, a peer of France in 1815, and Duke d'Avaray
in 1818.
Antoine Louis Francoise de Besiade Count d'Avaray, distinguished himself
during the Revolution by his devotion and friendship to the Count of
Provence, afterwards Louis XVIII .He saved Louis from the guillotine
and went with him into exile . The King created the estate of
le-Jourdain a dukedom , under the title of Avaray, in favor of the
Count d'Avaray, whom he termed his "liberator and great friend"
"After the mistress - The Countess la Balbi's fall , the focus of Monsieur’s affections was transported to the
Captain of his Bodyguard. Antoine-Louis-François de Bestiade, Comte
d’Avaray,He was thirty-four and a career soldier whose skillful
organization of his master’s escape to Coblenz had won him his master’s
confidence; later the infatuated Louis-Stanislas gave him the right to
bear the royal arms of France on his own with the motto Vicit iter durum pietas
(loyalty finds a way over even the stoniest road). Henceforward, until
his death, he only left Monsieur when sent on special missions. The two
men had no secrets from each other, Avaray’s one fault in Monsieur’s
eyes was that he knew no Latin. Indeed it is probable, though there is
no actual proof, that Monsieur was a repressed homosexual.
When the emigres court settled in England , Avaray, the King’s favorite companion,
inspired jealousy and even hatred. He particularly irritated
conservative émigrés by speaking English and dressing like an
Englishman. In 1808 a Vendéen veteran, General de Puisaye, accused
Avaray of trying to have him assassinated. The scandal reached such
proportions that Louis issued a public defense of ‘the most feeling of
friends’ and appointed a committee of twenty-four noblemen who quickly
declared Avaray innocent. The favorite at once challenged Puisaye to a
duel, but the King had him arrested by the English authorities to
prevent him fighting. As a mark of his esteem he then made Avaray a
Duke. However, the favorite's health was collapsing—he seems to have
been tubercular—and he had to leave England for a warmer climate in Madeira at the
end of 1810.He died there but was later interned at the Chateau D'Avaray "
________________-
"To make them understand the causes, we must go back to the time when, "aged eighteen, with a pretty face, loved and esteemed relatives," Francois de Beziade, Count of Avaray, arrived at Versailles eager to make a career in the army. It was in 1775. "Monsieur ( later Louis XVIII ) who loved my father," he says, "promptly placed me near his person, so that, attached to him from duty, and seeing him incessantly, I was soon feeling as much as by recognition.
From the book by Ernest Daudet "Revue de Deux Mondes " - 1904.
----------------------
He entered the Court of Louis XVI in 1775 as Master of the Wardrobe to Monsieur ,brother of the King. Poor and in frail health, but endowed with a character described as fiery, Avaray, as much by his extreme docility and his ardor he exalted the least of his master's deeds and gestures, ended up attracting his kindness.
"To make them understand the causes, we must go back to the time when, "aged eighteen, with a pretty face, loved and esteemed relatives," Francois de Beziade, Count of Avaray, arrived at Versailles eager to make a career in the army. It was in 1775. "Monsieur ( later Louis XVIII ) who loved my father," he says, "promptly placed me near his person, so that, attached to him from duty, and seeing him incessantly, I was soon feeling as much as by recognition.
From the book by Ernest Daudet "Revue de Deux Mondes " - 1904.
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The eldest son of Claude Antoine de Beziade( (1740-1829), Marquis d'Avaray, Antoine Louis François Béziade entered the service in 1774 as a second lieutenant in the regiment of La Couronne ,commanded by his father. He was appointed captain in 1777, then, in 1779, Marshal General of the lodgings of the Corps d'Armee. In 1782 Count d'Avaray served at the Siege of Gibraltar as aide-de-camp to the Duke de Crillon. He was appointed Colonel of the Boulonnais Regiment in 1782 and in 1788 he commanded them at Saint Omer .
In 1791 he played an important role in the escape of Monsieur from the Petit Palace of Luxembourg in Paris which saved his life during the Revolution .Another officer of the household had been taken into confidence about the prince's projects, but Monsieur's mistress, the Countess de Balbi convinced him to inform Avaray. It was decided that the Countess should leave for Brussels alone, while the Prince, accompanied by D'Avaray, would join her on another route pretending to be two Englishmen.The Comte d'Avaray,undertook to find the carriage and the clothes to be worn at the moment of departure, and plan the escape.
The date of the flight of the Royal Family was set for Monday he Count of Provence set his own departure on the same date. He informed Count d'Avaray the previous Friday. Together, they examined how to escape the Petit Luxembourg, which path to take to reach Belgium, and chose to use post horses instead of using relays, so as not to attract attention . On the appointed date, soon after bedtime, Monsieur and d'Avaray left the palace on foot-before finding their carriage near the College des Quarter-Nation At Le Bourget Comte d'Avaray, with a English accent introduced themselves as Michael and David Foster- two English brothers The great adventure had begun . Avaray was no more troubled by difficulties than if his friends had begged him to go with them to the Opera Ball without his parent's knowledge, Louis XVIII would later write. about this escape with high praise for his friend Avaray .The carriage reached Nanateuil at daybreak. In Avenues-sir-Helge , they need to repair a broken wheel and wasted some time, but they managed to cross the Belgian border at nightfall. Monsieur spent the night at Mons, where he met up with Countess de Balbi .Always in the company of the faithful Avaray, who was proud to have saved them all.Monsieur treated him with great affection He will later talk about the "delicious effusions" with this friend of fortune On Monsieur's party left Brussels for Koblenz en then Liege. , Louis XVIII will later recount this time with Avaray with great pleasure.
Avaray was appointed Captain of the Guards of Monsieur, and it was in this capacity that he campaigned in 1792. He became Marshall of le Camp in 1795, and Captain of the Scottish the bodyguards of the new King. Monsieur, the Count of Provence, became King of France on the death of his nephew,in the Temple prison .He became Louis XVIII in 1796.
He, whom the king called his "dear d'Avaray," helped his master to leave Verona in Italy to attach himself to the Army of Princes led by Conde ,where they were encamped on the right bank of the Rhine River. Having effected the union of the royalists, d'Avaray negotiated the liberation of the daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette -Madame Royale.He was instrumental in arranging her marriage to the Duke of Angouleme her cousin. In 1799- on the day of this marriage , Louis XVIII extended to d'Avaray the County of L'Isle Jourdain and made him a Duke under the name of Avaray.This honor was confirmed and regularized in 1817 with reversion to his father after the Duke d'Avaray's death On , Louis XVIII granted the Duke of Avaray the concession to use the the royal emblem of lilies on his Coat of Arms with the Motto VICIT ITER DURUM PIETAS
As the representative of Louis XVIII -Avaray exchanged diplomatic correspondence with Count Joseph de Maistre to the King of Sardinia and the Russian Tsar.
Since his departure from France he was ill and sometimes Monsieur himself would sat next to his bed to assist his healing. The Duke of Avaray died on the island of Madeira on where he had gone to try to restore his health. After Louis XVIII returned to France as ruler her had Avaray's body brought back to France -where he was layed to rest in the church of Avaray in the Loire Valley .
Monsieur- later King Louis XVIII of France .
Louis XVIII. Charles X .Duke and Duchess D'Angouleme .Duke de Berry.
Louis XVII with Marie Louise de Savoy his Queen at Hartwell in England .
Louis XVIII arriving at Hartwell.
Louis XVIII 's letter to the Antoine d'Avaray -
making him a Peer of France and a Duke.
Louis XVIII signed this document with a black seal.
Counter-signed by Antoine Louis Francois de Béziade, Comte d'Avaray (1759-1811). Instructions after the death of Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon in Trieste.
Letter from Louis XVIII to the Duke D'Avaray
Marie-Josephine Louis of Savoy ( 1753-1810)
Wife of Louis XVIII.
She died in England before he returned to France and became king.
Marie Joséphine and her spouse lived largely separate lives, and while Louis Stanislaus was reputed to have a romantic relationship with his favorite courtier, the Duke d'Avaray, Marie Joséphine was reputed to have a romantic relationship with her favorite lady-in-waiting Marguerite de Gourbillion
"Louis’s Queen, Maria Giuseppina, who despite their incompatibility had stayed with him, died the same year. The British government gave her a state funeral in Westminster Abbey, after which her body was sent home to Turin. The King was by now in his late fifties, gout-ridden, cripplingly overweight and with a digestion which must have suffered dreadfully from his love of good food. He was prostrate when news came in 1811 that Avaray had died in Madeira."
TO ANTOINE LOUIS FRANCOIS D'AVARAY -HIS DELIVERER-
LOUIS STANISLAS XAVIER OF FRANCE- LOUIS XVIII -FULL OF GRATITUDE - HEALTH.
I am aware, my dear friend, that you are employed in writing the circumstances
p48 which precede and
accompanied the moment of my deliverance; no one is better qualified
than you to give celebrity to your work, and yet I wish also to attempt
it. It is possible that your modesty may prevent your doing yourself the
justice you deserve,
p49 and I feel it to be a
duty, as well as a pleasure, to guard against that result. I should be
ungrateful were I to suffer that any one in the world — even yourself —
should dare to rob my deliverer of the least particle of glory which is
due to him. It is for this purpose, rather than to recall to my
recollection events which I never can forget, that I write this
narrative. Receive it, I beg of you, as a pledge of my tenderest
friendship — as a monument of my gratitude. May it serve to acquit me of
some part of the debt towards you, which I have felt so much pleasure
in contracting, and which I shall feel still more pleasure in for ever
acknowledging.
THE RETURN OF LOUIS XVIII
Gilbert Stenger,
Louis XVIII thought it his duty to defend the name of favorite, d'Avaray- flung at his friend by those who envied him. "One of the most painful things about being a King ," he said " is that as soon as we make a friend he is attacked and decried , either in the hope of injuring him with us, or of injuring ourselves. I know only too well that my friend is subjected to this unjust treatment . I am quite aware that he is given the title of favorite, a cheap insult that has no significance in itself but is insulting through the arbitrary meaning attached to the word. If I were only concerned to defend my own choice , my offence would be short and unanswerable . I should say : I exist; and there would be nothing more to be said. That is not enough it is my friend whom I wish to defend, and I can do that in no better way than by giving him weapons with which to repel the calumnies that will certainly reach his ears sooner or later, if they have not already done so"
THE RETURN OF LOUIS XVIII
Gilbert Stenger,
Louis XVIII thought it his duty to defend the name of favorite, d'Avaray- flung at his friend by those who envied him. "One of the most painful things about being a King ," he said " is that as soon as we make a friend he is attacked and decried , either in the hope of injuring him with us, or of injuring ourselves. I know only too well that my friend is subjected to this unjust treatment . I am quite aware that he is given the title of favorite, a cheap insult that has no significance in itself but is insulting through the arbitrary meaning attached to the word. If I were only concerned to defend my own choice , my offence would be short and unanswerable . I should say : I exist; and there would be nothing more to be said. That is not enough it is my friend whom I wish to defend, and I can do that in no better way than by giving him weapons with which to repel the calumnies that will certainly reach his ears sooner or later, if they have not already done so"
. The King then proceeded to justify his friend’s pretensions to a distinguished career, by reference to his birth and his personal qualities ; recalling once more that it was to d ’Avaray that he owed his own safety. Then he goes on I ask his enemies themselves whether he was anything but modest, and whether he ever had a more respectful subject in public." In private he is the most sympathetic friend, and (which I value still more ) the most severe. Of all my affairs there have only been two in which he has openly concerned himself and taken an active part . One was connected with my reputation, the other was very near my heart . It was with him that I braved the perfidy and overcame the obstacles that separated me from my cousin the Prince de Condé it was through him that I achieved the marriage of my children. This is the whole of his public life . He has my entire confidence , and far from hiding the fact I declare it openly I have just proved that his public actions show how worthy he is of it . ”
"THE LAST VENDEE" by ALEXANDER DUMAS -
"The Three Musketeers Series."
“That’s a point I have often heard King Louis XVIII. and the Marquis d’Avaray discuss,” said Petit–Pierre.
The Comte de Bonneville touched the youth’s arm.
“Then you knew King Louis XVIII. and the Marquis d’Avaray?” said the old gentleman, in much amazement, looking at Petit–Pierre, as if to make sure that the youth was not laughing at him.
“Yes, I knew them well, in my youth,” replied Petit–Pierre, simply."
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Hartwell - England .
"Louis XVIII and the House of Bourbon in 1810."
Philippe Mansel
"More than most exiled monarchs, Louis XVIII leads a royal existence in Hartwell England, surrounded by a court. The most devoted of the king's servants, the Count d'Avaray, is also captain of the guards in addition to political adviser.The king loves country life. Hartwell is, with Gosfield, the only residence of exile which he will paint after his restoration. He writes to d'Avaray:
"I'm walking in the garden. I see my roses growing well ... the apricots are tied, the peaches will be soon, the lilacs are all green;we distinguish the color of their clusters and there are chestnuts leaves and whose flowers are formed."
The Duke D'Avaray left for Madeira in 1810 and died there on June 4 1811.
"I'm walking in the garden. I see my roses growing well ... the apricots are tied, the peaches will be soon, the lilacs are all green;we distinguish the color of their clusters and there are chestnuts leaves and whose flowers are formed."
The Duke D'Avaray left for Madeira in 1810 and died there on June 4 1811.
MANSEL:" The Comte D'Avaray, who helped organize his escape from Revolutionary Paris in 1791 was his first favorite. Much disliked by royalists. And he made often very foolish writings, which got Louis expelled from Poland in 1804, for example. But in terms of the emigration, he was a moderate who wanted an evolution towards more liberal political declarations, which in the end he got. But the royal family didn’t like him. Nobody really liked him. He was a bachelor. He’s always with the king, advising him, in his study writing letters and declarations. Much disliked by the ministers of the emigration."
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Dorothea von Biron, Princess of Courland, Duchess of Dino, Talleyrand, and Sagan, known as Dorothée de Courlande or Dorothea de Dino (21 August 1793 – 19 September 1862), was a Baltic German noblewoman. For a long time, she accompanied the French statesman Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, whereas she was the separated wife of his nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord.
"The Memoires of Duchesse de Dino. 1836-1840"Edited by her granddaughter Marie de Castellane, Princess of Radziwill.
"THE LAST YEAR OF EMIGRATION" By Ernest Daudet.
Among these, there is one person, solid and generous, ready for all sacrifices,even death, as he proved it in 1793, to ensure the escape of Monsieur, Count of Provence from France.- It is Antonie Count D'Avaray. He has resisted the incessant attacks which are wrought against him by the envious ones who would like to drive him away from the King Their efforts, which could not slow down D'Avarays devotion to his King and the Kings trust in his him. In a quarrel that breaks out between D'Avaray and the Duke of Angouleme , the King sided with his friend and forced his nephew to express regret. The Comte de Puisaye, who dares to undertake the demotion of Avaray, is broken by this wicked task. Convinced of a lie, he is shamefully driven out by the King, who will henceforth regard him only as a dangerous enemy, and who, in order to give his friend D'Avaray a brilliant testimony of esteem and affection he declares him "duke and peer of France." "This high distinction was not necessary to increase D'Avaray's devotion.In a statement , drawn up in 1807, that was intended for the Emperor Alexander, the King, in anticipation of his death, begged to continue the following pensions.Beside the name of d'Avaray, who in his capacity as Captain of the Guards and Marshal of Camp, receives per year ten thousand pounds, one reads:"I owe him life and freedom. This obligation of the man is the least of those of the King with regard to him. I add only one word: he missed only one Henry IV to revive Sully. He is the eldest of a large and dedicated family. His father was one of the deputies to the Assembly, who were most marked by their loyalty. One of his brothers and one of his brothers-in-law died in the field of honor at Quiberon. He made his first arms at the siege of Gibraltar; he was made colonel on his return, as a reward for his valorous conduct, particularly in the case of the floating batteries, where he found himself on the most exposed to fire. the place, without duty having called him to this perilous attack. He has abandoned eighty thousand francs a year, to which he was called in France, to attach himself to my unfortunate fate. His health is absolutely destroyed by the effect of a cruel disease, fruit of his fatigue for fifteen years that he is my companion of misfortunes, work and exile. "On several occasions D'Avaray had believed himself at the gates of death, and particularly in 1801, at the moment when, following the King, he had just arrived at Warsaw. Convinced that he was close to death, he did not want trouble the King by letting him see his apprehensions.Father Edgeworth -the confessor of Louis XVI as well as Louis XVIII's confessor wrote"In this conversation, which has been long enough, the Comte d'Avaray has appeared to me much less occupied with his condition, though he regards it as infinitely critical, than with the isolation where his death would cast the master to whom he dedicated his life. It seems to me extremely desirable (if God withdraws him from this world) that the King should immediately take care of forming a small but well chosen council to deliberate on all his affairs. But, talking to me about this advice, he made me to feel with force how essential it will be for the King to truly be his soul, and that, having listened to the opinions of those he will admit, he will always end up alone and without ever giving exclusive confidence to nobody."The King," he added, "has too much knowledge of all kinds, and too much accuracy in his views, to ever need a prime minister. Moreover, a prime minister, or even a man deemed to be so without having the title, would only rob him of some of his glory, to which he is entitled to aspire by himself, and that he must share with nobody.In agreeing with me the difficulty of composing this advice well in the present circumstances, he has however appointed me M. de Cazalès and the Marquis d'Escars, as worthy to have place there: and he does not doubt let neither of them go to the invitation of the King, if he deigns to do so to them.As to his personal affairs, the Comte d'Avaray repeated to me several times that all that was in his house from the kindness of his master was to return to his service when he was no more. However, he wants his personal to be sent to his family, when we have the opportunity. He does not recommend his family to the King, because he is well assured that the kindness he has always had for him will spread over to them after he dies. A favor to which he would attach the greatest value would be that the King should pass his instruction of the royal lilies to be on his coat of arms to his Besiade family. Two friends whom he leaves behind -Messrs. D'Hautefort and Charles de Damas -he desires that the King never forgets them, and regards them as two of his most faithful servants.Surrounded by care, the object of the incessant solicitude of the King, Count d'Avaray had recovered, if not health, at least the means of living. After a long convalescence he was able to return to Italy. A few months later, he had returned, still obliged to take minute precautions, but still able to resume his position with the King.Things were at this point, when in 1809, following the resounding quarrel of d'Avaray with the Count de Puisaye, his already fragile health was threatened again and more seriously. He himself understood that his zeal was now insufficient for the task to which he had devoted it for so long. Without even waiting for the commissioners appointed by the King to decide on Puisaye's alleged grievances, had rendered the sentence which proved his falsity, he decided to retire. From London, where he had settled in order to better resist Puisaye, he communicated his wish to Louis XVIII. He had only too much expectation of this request, which had been prepared in previous conversations.His reply, dated March 24, from Hartwell, however, shows that he did not despair of seeing Avaray return to him."I go out, my friend, from my family council composed of my brother, my nephews, the Prince de Condé, and the Duke de Bourbon. As you know, I had called MM. the archbishop of Reims, the duke of Havre, the count of Escars, of Barentin, the Count de la Chapelle, the Count of Blacas and Outremont. The latter has read the report of the examination made by the orders of the papers produced by M. de Puisaye, and, with the sagacity which belongs to him, he has shown, until the last evidence, the imposture and the absurdity of the Charges articulated against you and against me. Each member, starting with my brother, said that this report only confirmed him in his opinion of you and his esteem for you. I then added that having, from the beginning, pronounced mine, I had no need of this testimony to establish my judgment, but that the friendship that exists between us, that in me the King should be to challenge man, I had thought it necessary to surround myself with the lights of those who rightly deserve my confidence the best; that, fully satisfied with what I had just heard, and wanting you to be so informed as circumstances may permit, I charged M. de Barentin, former keeper of the Seals, and Outremont (who bring you this letter) to express to you the unanimous feeling and mine.As soon as the three commissioners have written the summary which is to definitively fix the public opinion on this criminal case and pending happier times where a legal judgment will be able to give a great example, I will pass the summary to the ministers of His Britannic Majesty. to obtain their consent to a publication which is equally necessary to both of us. This summary and the verification report will be given to you."I do not need to tell you that in closing, I ordered, with the general applause, to the Count de la Chapelle, to strike M. de Puisaye out of my military state.Moreover, I declared that it was my intention that my faithful subjects should henceforth answer only by the most profound contempt of the writings that this cowardly impostor could publish.Now, my friend, I will answer the request that you made me to rest by preparing you for the remedies that the doctors order you. I feel only too strongly the deplorable state in which your health is reduced after so much suffering, but I have had to wait, before satisfying you, that its result is no longer a secret for anyone; we must not give food to malignity. "Since the 21st of June, 1791, how many years of turmoil, of joint work, of shared sorrows have rendered us one to the other necessary! Take care, keep me a friend so precious; I do not need to add that I will not let you lose sight of the fact that your office and my just trust give you a double duty to fulfill with me. All I am asking of you for the moment is to wait a fortnight, having an indispensable need of your presence, to inform the servants whom I propose to employ in my cabinet. Farewell, my friend, I await you impatiently. "
Dorothea von Biron, Princess of Courland, Duchess of Dino, Talleyrand, and Sagan, known as Dorothée de Courlande or Dorothea de Dino (21 August 1793 – 19 September 1862), was a Baltic German noblewoman. For a long time, she accompanied the French statesman Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, whereas she was the separated wife of his nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord.
" The Comte d ’Avaray was born in 1759, and was therefore about the King's own age. He came of the Béarnais family of Beziade , who had followed Henri IV, and, when that prince came to the throne, had settled in Avaray, in the province of Orleans. Having been Monsieur's Grand Master of the Wardrobe , he had been led by his office into intimacy with the prince. This was the beginning of their friendship . It had been greatly strengthened by the fact that the Comte de Provence, when he wished to emigrate, owned to this friend d'Avaray the success of his escape from the Palace of the Luxembourg . This made a bond between them that the years only served to strengthen. They remained together, sharing the ordeals of their precarious fate ; and the more heavily misfortune weighed upon the King the more prominent was the place his friend occupied in his life.. Indeed, all the correspondence of state was read by both of them ; and so great was their mutual confidence that the letters were only opened when both were present, in order that neither should hide anything from the other. D ’Avaray, who had all the subtlety of the South , showed nothing but gentleness and submission in dealing with the royal caprices ,but nonetheless, his bland remarks were all -powerful in determining the King’s line of conduct . If the latter showed generosity or daring, timidity or evasiveness, it was d ’Avaray ’ s thought that he was expressing. He clothed it in elegant phrases that were all Louis XVIII 's own ; but there were two people at the back of the idea. It is re corded that Louis carried his mimicry of this ' intimate friend to such a pitch of affectation as actually to copy his costume. Mont Gaillard saw the King, he says, in trousers and boots and a cloth coat of mixed coloring such as d ’Avaray wore , and with his hair arranged in the same way, smoothed down on the top of his head . This can only have been a passing fancy . It was not without difficulty that the gentlemen of the household endured this exaggerated condescension on the King ’ s part towards his favorite. They had to pay court to this personage, who was as important as his master. They all knew that nothing was to be secured without the consent of the Grand Vizier.
He was the dispenser of favors, the inspiration of political ventures. The King had lost his personality . Infirm though he was , if he had been left to himself, guided only by his own feelings, he would not have shown himself so devoid of courage, so temporizing, so quibbling, so fond of empty words . Sooner or later the day would have dawned, the hour would have struck , when he would have appeared as a prince and a soldier. But his friend was always beside him, begging him to be careful , and to discuss the chances and dangers of the venture , whatever it might be and meanwhile the time was flying and the psychological moment gone beyond recall . Moreover, everything that was harmful to d ’Avaray was also indirectly harmful to the King. D ’Avaray suffered from a chest complaint that affected his courage ; it was impossible for him to be a man of energy and resolution when he was weakened by fever, and his mind depressed by the thought of his brief and hopeless future. Being ill , too, he often delayed the King ’s flight across the icy plains of Northern Europe. On leaving Mittau, on arriving at Memel, and again at Warsaw his attacks of hemorrhage were very alarming to the master with whom he traveled. At Warsaw the D'Avaray took to his bed, and the King, being thus deprived of his companionship , showed the ' sincerity of his feeling by sitting every day beside his dying friend, and reading aloud to him in the hope of dispelling his melancholy thoughts. At last the victories of Bonaparte chased the royal family from the continent . They were forced to cross Europe and go to England pended so much to latitudes further south .When D ’Avaray went to Madeira . Louis XVIII heaped honors upon him, gave him the title of Duke, granted him the right of quartering the arms of France with his own, and of using the motto "Vicit iter dur um pietas" ; During the ten months of separation that passed before death finally parted them there was a constant flow of letters from the King to his friend . These letters are full of feeling ; as anxious , as eager, as affectionate as though written to a sister. The invalid set out on his voyage in June 1810, and died in the August of the following year. "
The Duchess d'Angelouléme being received in Mittau by Louis XVIII
The Marquise D'Avaray at his side.
The Marquise D'Avaray at his side.
Marie Therese of France (1778-1851)
Duchess d'Angoulême and Dauphin of France.
"She is the consoling angel of our master," wrote the Comte d'Avaray, "and a model of courage for us."
"LOUIS XVIII" by Mary Frances Sandars 1910
" When the news of the Duke 'd Avaray's death in Madeira reached England ,the King had a bad attack of gout and the doctors considered it dangerous to inform him that he lost his faithful friend. When he was told he was for some time inconsolable.Sorrow after sorrow had been heaped on him but the loss of the man who was his "other self" must have been the bitterest affliction for him."
Epitaph for Antoine Louis Francois Beziade -Duke D"Avaray
1825.Here it is the epitaph written in Latin by Louis XVIII.
D.O.M.
HIC JACET
NOBILIS VIR
ANTONIUS LUDOVICUS FRANCISCANS
DE BEZIADE
DUX D'AVARAY
PAR FRANCE
EQUITUM REGIS COSTUDOM UNUS ET PRAEFECTIS
AB ANTIQUA SIRPE ORIENDUS
BELLI TIROCINIUM
GIBRATARLE SUB MOENIBUS ALTIS
D'Avaray was buried in the church of Santa Luzia in Madeira in 1811.
.His body was brought back to France in 1824.
He was buried in the family vault in the Church of Avaray .
Louis XVII arriving back in Paris as King after the French Revolution and the Napoleon Empire .1814.
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SECOND DUKE D"AVARAY.
Beziad (Claude-Antoine de Béziade) Claude Antoine (1740-1829) - Marquis d, Avarey (Marquis d, Avaray), Baron de Lussanne (Baron de Lussan), Senior de Letion, Courbusson and Brosse-Montmore (Seigneur de Letion , Courbouson et La Brosse-Montmort), Duke d, Avarey (Duc d, Avaray), Lieutenant General (August 13, 1814). Born July 16, 1740 in Paris (Paris, Ile de France) in the family of the Marquis Charles-Theophile de Beziade d, Avare (Charles-Theophile de Beziade, Marquise d, Avaray) (1701-1746) and his wife Margarita-Elizabeth Megre d , Etigny (Marguerite-Elisabeth Megret d, Etigny) (1717-), in 1757, at the age of 16, he entered the military service in the Royal Guard Chevolier Corps (Chevau-legers de la Garde du roi), with the rank of captain of the cavalry regiment Mestre- de Camp (Regiment Mestre-de-Camp-General-cavalerie) took part in the fighting of the Seven Years War (Guerre de Sept Ans), on August 1, 1759, was wounded in the battle of Minden. In 1765, Colonel, June 22, 1767 - commander of the Crown Infantry Regiment (Regiment de La Couronne-infanterie), in 1771 - the wardrobe master (Maitre de la garde-robe) of the Count of Provence (Louis Stanislas Xavier de Bourbon, Comte de Provence) (1755-1824), May 1, 1780 - brigadier, December 5, 1781 - Field Marshal (marechal-de-camp), the highest bailiff of Orleans (Grand-bailli d, Orleans). On April 1, 1789, he was elected deputy of the General States (Etats generaux) from the noblesse of the Orleans ballyazh (Bailliage d, Orleans), as a member of the Constituent Assembly (Assemblee constituante) he participated on August 4, 1789 in the discussion of the "Declaration of Human and Citizen Rights" Declaration des droits de l, homme et du citoyen), in 1791 his three sons and two son-in-law (field marshal Marquis de Surdis (Antoine-Rene d, Escoubleau, Marquis de Sourdis) (1767-) and marquis de Grave (Edme- Charles-Francois, Marquis de Grave) (1754-1795), captured by the Republicans and shot during the rout of the royalist landing on the Quiberon Peninsula in July 1795) migrated from France, but the Marquis could not follow them due to a serious illness, on 17th Fremer of the 2nd year (December 7, 1793), he and his wife were arrested and received freedom only after the coup of 9th Thermidor of the 2nd year (July 27, 1794 years) and the fall of Robespierre (Maximilien Robespierre) (1758-1794). Under the Consulate and the Empire, he lived in his castle d, Avare (Chateau d, Avaray, Loir-et-Cher) under the supervision of the police, in April 1814 he went to England and escorted King Louis XVIII to his homeland, after which he returned to the duties of wardrobe master On August 13, 1814, he was promoted to lieutenant general, during the “100 days” he accompanied the king to Ghent, after the second Restoration he was awarded the dignity of the French peer (Pair de France) on August 17, 1815, in the process of Marshal Ney (Michel Ney) (1769-1815) voted for the death penalty, January 10, 1817 - member of the Governing Body and Disabled (Conseil d, administration de l, Hotel des Invalides), October 1, 1820 - the commander of the 19th Military Region, Nov. 25, 1820 - First Chamberlain (Premier chambellan). He died on April 25, 1829 in Avare at the age of 88 years. Chevalier of the Legion of Honor (August 24, 1820), Officer of the Legion of Honor (August 29, 1823), Chevalier of St. Louis (1771), Chevalier of the Order of the Holy Spirit (Ordre de Saint-Esprit) (September 30, 1820). From April 5, 1758 he was married to Angelique-Adelaide-Sophie de Mayi-Nel (Angélique-Adélaide-Sophie de Mailly-Nesle) (1740-1823), from whom he had five children: Antoine-Louis-Francois (Antoine-Louis- Francois de Beziade) (1759-1811), Adelaide-Henrietta-Elisabeth (Adelaide-Henriette-Elisabeth de Beziade) (1762-1785), Augustine-Olympia-Sofia (Augustine-Olympe-Sophie de Beziade) (1765-1809), Armand-Louis-Theophile (Armand-Louis-Theophile, Vicomte d, Avaray) (1766-1794), shot in Burg de Geste (Bourg-de-Geste, Vendee) 17 pluvias of the 2nd year (February 5, 1794 ) soldiers of the Hell's Column (Colonne infernale) of General Cordelier (Etienne-Jean-Francois Cordellier, dit Cordellier-Delanoue) (1767-1845) and Joseph-Theophile-Parf (Joseph-Theophile-Parf ait de Beziade) (1770-1859).
SECOND DUKE D"AVARAY.
Claude Antoine de Beziade Duc D'Avaray (1740-1829) Second Duke D'Avaray. Duke from 1817-1829.
"En habit de Pair de France portant l'ordre de Saint Louis. la Legion d' honneur et les insignes de l'ordre du Saint Esprit 1824."
Francoise - Joseph Kinson (Belgian painter 1771-1839)
Painted in 1824 -Five years before the Duke's death.
Beziad (Claude-Antoine de Béziade) Claude Antoine (1740-1829) - Marquis d, Avarey (Marquis d, Avaray), Baron de Lussanne (Baron de Lussan), Senior de Letion, Courbusson and Brosse-Montmore (Seigneur de Letion , Courbouson et La Brosse-Montmort), Duke d, Avarey (Duc d, Avaray), Lieutenant General (August 13, 1814). Born July 16, 1740 in Paris (Paris, Ile de France) in the family of the Marquis Charles-Theophile de Beziade d, Avare (Charles-Theophile de Beziade, Marquise d, Avaray) (1701-1746) and his wife Margarita-Elizabeth Megre d , Etigny (Marguerite-Elisabeth Megret d, Etigny) (1717-), in 1757, at the age of 16, he entered the military service in the Royal Guard Chevolier Corps (Chevau-legers de la Garde du roi), with the rank of captain of the cavalry regiment Mestre- de Camp (Regiment Mestre-de-Camp-General-cavalerie) took part in the fighting of the Seven Years War (Guerre de Sept Ans), on August 1, 1759, was wounded in the battle of Minden. In 1765, Colonel, June 22, 1767 - commander of the Crown Infantry Regiment (Regiment de La Couronne-infanterie), in 1771 - the wardrobe master (Maitre de la garde-robe) of the Count of Provence (Louis Stanislas Xavier de Bourbon, Comte de Provence) (1755-1824), May 1, 1780 - brigadier, December 5, 1781 - Field Marshal (marechal-de-camp), the highest bailiff of Orleans (Grand-bailli d, Orleans). On April 1, 1789, he was elected deputy of the General States (Etats generaux) from the noblesse of the Orleans ballyazh (Bailliage d, Orleans), as a member of the Constituent Assembly (Assemblee constituante) he participated on August 4, 1789 in the discussion of the "Declaration of Human and Citizen Rights" Declaration des droits de l, homme et du citoyen), in 1791 his three sons and two son-in-law (field marshal Marquis de Surdis (Antoine-Rene d, Escoubleau, Marquis de Sourdis) (1767-) and marquis de Grave (Edme- Charles-Francois, Marquis de Grave) (1754-1795), captured by the Republicans and shot during the rout of the royalist landing on the Quiberon Peninsula in July 1795) migrated from France, but the Marquis could not follow them due to a serious illness, on 17th Fremer of the 2nd year (December 7, 1793), he and his wife were arrested and received freedom only after the coup of 9th Thermidor of the 2nd year (July 27, 1794 years) and the fall of Robespierre (Maximilien Robespierre) (1758-1794). Under the Consulate and the Empire, he lived in his castle d, Avare (Chateau d, Avaray, Loir-et-Cher) under the supervision of the police, in April 1814 he went to England and escorted King Louis XVIII to his homeland, after which he returned to the duties of wardrobe master On August 13, 1814, he was promoted to lieutenant general, during the “100 days” he accompanied the king to Ghent, after the second Restoration he was awarded the dignity of the French peer (Pair de France) on August 17, 1815, in the process of Marshal Ney (Michel Ney) (1769-1815) voted for the death penalty, January 10, 1817 - member of the Governing Body and Disabled (Conseil d, administration de l, Hotel des Invalides), October 1, 1820 - the commander of the 19th Military Region, Nov. 25, 1820 - First Chamberlain (Premier chambellan). He died on April 25, 1829 in Avare at the age of 88 years. Chevalier of the Legion of Honor (August 24, 1820), Officer of the Legion of Honor (August 29, 1823), Chevalier of St. Louis (1771), Chevalier of the Order of the Holy Spirit (Ordre de Saint-Esprit) (September 30, 1820). From April 5, 1758 he was married to Angelique-Adelaide-Sophie de Mayi-Nel (Angélique-Adélaide-Sophie de Mailly-Nesle) (1740-1823), from whom he had five children: Antoine-Louis-Francois (Antoine-Louis- Francois de Beziade) (1759-1811), Adelaide-Henrietta-Elisabeth (Adelaide-Henriette-Elisabeth de Beziade) (1762-1785), Augustine-Olympia-Sofia (Augustine-Olympe-Sophie de Beziade) (1765-1809), Armand-Louis-Theophile (Armand-Louis-Theophile, Vicomte d, Avaray) (1766-1794), shot in Burg de Geste (Bourg-de-Geste, Vendee) 17 pluvias of the 2nd year (February 5, 1794 ) soldiers of the Hell's Column (Colonne infernale) of General Cordelier (Etienne-Jean-Francois Cordellier, dit Cordellier-Delanoue) (1767-1845) and Joseph-Theophile-Parf (Joseph-Theophile-Parf ait de Beziade) (1770-1859).
Civil marriage license.
He married April 5 1758 Angelique Adelaide Sophie de Mailly-Nesle (1740-1823) daughter of Louis IV Marquis de Mailly-Nesle and Anne Françoise Élisabeth L'Arbaleste of La Borde -Vicomtesse de Melun .
The Mailly family was the offspring of the premier Marquise of France- Drogon de Nesle killed in Palestine 1096, Raoul de Nesle knighted by Louis IX as well as Jean de Nestle regent of France during Saint Louis's last crusade.
They had five children:
Antoine Louis Francoise (1759-1811 First Duke of Avaray..
Adelaide Henriette Élisabeth (1762-1785) who married Edme Charles François, Marquis de Grave (1754-1795) , killed in Quiberon
.
Augustine Olympe Sophie (1765-1809) who married Antoine Renés d''Escoubleau Marquis de Sourdis ;
Armand Louis Théophile (1766-1795) shot in Quiberon.
Joseph Théophile Parfait (1770-1859) Third Duke of Avaray (1829)
"Item 29 is a marriage contract of high nobility from the last decade of France's Ancien Regime. The couple was Augustine Olympe Sophie de Besiade d'Avaray and Antoine-Rene d'Escoubleau, Marquis de Sourdis. Those were suitably long names for important people, though if their achievements went much beyond being rich and noble that is not clear. Antoine-Rene was the last male of this prestigious family, which died out with his daughter. However, the couple at least was spared the fate of the most famous signers of their marriage vows. The wedding went on for three days in October of 1784, and among those who signed the contract were King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. Both King and Queen were beheaded during the French Revolution less than a decade later".
The Mailly family was the offspring of the premier Marquise of France- Drogon de Nesle killed in Palestine 1096, Raoul de Nesle knighted by Louis IX as well as Jean de Nestle regent of France during Saint Louis's last crusade.
They had five children:
Antoine Louis Francoise (1759-1811 First Duke of Avaray..
Adelaide Henriette Élisabeth (1762-1785) who married Edme Charles François, Marquis de Grave (1754-1795) , killed in Quiberon
.
Augustine Olympe Sophie (1765-1809) who married Antoine Renés d''Escoubleau Marquis de Sourdis ;
Armand Louis Théophile (1766-1795) shot in Quiberon.
Joseph Théophile Parfait (1770-1859) Third Duke of Avaray (1829)
"Item 29 is a marriage contract of high nobility from the last decade of France's Ancien Regime. The couple was Augustine Olympe Sophie de Besiade d'Avaray and Antoine-Rene d'Escoubleau, Marquis de Sourdis. Those were suitably long names for important people, though if their achievements went much beyond being rich and noble that is not clear. Antoine-Rene was the last male of this prestigious family, which died out with his daughter. However, the couple at least was spared the fate of the most famous signers of their marriage vows. The wedding went on for three days in October of 1784, and among those who signed the contract were King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. Both King and Queen were beheaded during the French Revolution less than a decade later".
(From a book on French History.)
The Duke and his family lived at Versailles but also had the mansion in Paris ,the Hotel D'Avaray and the Chateau D'Avaray in the Loire Valley.
State General.
At the end of 1791 , his three sons and two sons-in-law emigrated. The eldest Antoine , followed the Count of Provence (later Louis XVIII) of which he was the faithful servant and favorite.The younger son Théophile was part of the Quiberon expedition with his brother-in-law the Marquise de Grave. They were both killed there.
The Marquis was incarcerated with his wife, Angelique née Mailly-Nesle, towards the end of the Terror in 1793. They were subjected to 9 months of captivity, waiting every day for the death . They were saved by the 9th Thermidor when Robespierre was executed .Confined for more than six years under the Empire in his castle of Avaray,the Marquis stayed away from public affairs until the fall of Napoleon I .
Claude Antoine Béziade, Marquis d'Avaray of the nobility of Orléanais. In 1791 he saw his two sons and two sons-in-law emigrate. He stayed in France, in his castle of Avaray because of a serious illness that prevented him from following them. Mr. Béziade d'Avaray, following the emigration of his children, proceeded to the division of his property with the State by act passed before the administrative court of the Seine on 2 Brumaire year VII. By this act he abandoned to the State the house of the Rue de Seine, a third of which belonged to him as heir to M. Pellot de Trevieres.
Avaray, Claude Antoine de Besiade, 4th Marquis then Duc d’ 1740-1829. Cavalry Captain, wounded at Minden. Field Marshal in 1781, and subsequently a member of the Constituent Assembly. There he opposed his Duties of Man to the Rights of Man. He was arrested at the end of the Terror but escaped the guillotine due to the 9th Thermidor. He was confined during the Empire to his chateau. He was made a Duke in 1817. Brother-in-law of Madame de Coislin. Avaray, Angelique-Adelaide-Sophie de Mailly-Nesle c.1738-1823. Marquise, then Duchess, wife of Claude (from 1758). Sister of Madame de Coislin. Avaray, Antoine-Louis-François de Bésiade, Comte d’ 1759-1811. Eldest son of Claude, he was Master of the Wardrobe to Monsieur, and organised his emigration to Luxembourg in 1791. He was subsequently made Captain of the king’s Guards. He died in Madeira, his health having suffered in England
"Claude Antoine de Béziade, marquis puis duc d’Avaray (1740-1829). Militaire et homme politique, il fut élu par la noblesse de l’Orléanais le 1er avril 1789 député aux États généraux de 1789 et siégea à l’Assemblée constituante. Emprisonné en 1793, confiné dans son château d’Avaray sous l’Empire, il retrouva les faveurs de son rang sous la restauration où Louis XVIII le nomma lieutenant-général en 1814, pair de France en 1815 et membre du Conseil d’administration de l’hôtel des Invalides en 1816. En 1820 il fut fait chevalier des ordres du Roi, devint premier chambellan, officier de l’ordre royal de la Légion d’honneur puis gouverneur de la 19e division militaire."
SALLIER (Guy-Marie).
Annales françaises, Depuis le commencement du règne de Louis XVI, jusqu’aux Etats Généraux. 1774 à 1789.
Hartwell. England.
Claude Antoine Béziade, Marquis d'Avaray of the nobility of Orléanais. In 1791 he saw his two sons and two sons-in-law emigrate. He stayed in France, in his castle of Avaray because of a serious illness that prevented him from following them. Mr. Béziade d'Avaray, following the emigration of his children, proceeded to the division of his property with the State by act passed before the administrative court of the Seine on 2 Brumaire year VII. By this act he abandoned to the State the house of the Rue de Seine, a third of which belonged to him as heir to M. Pellot de Trevieres.
Avaray, Claude Antoine de Besiade, 4th Marquis then Duc d’ 1740-1829. Cavalry Captain, wounded at Minden. Field Marshal in 1781, and subsequently a member of the Constituent Assembly. There he opposed his Duties of Man to the Rights of Man. He was arrested at the end of the Terror but escaped the guillotine due to the 9th Thermidor. He was confined during the Empire to his chateau. He was made a Duke in 1817. Brother-in-law of Madame de Coislin. Avaray, Angelique-Adelaide-Sophie de Mailly-Nesle c.1738-1823. Marquise, then Duchess, wife of Claude (from 1758). Sister of Madame de Coislin. Avaray, Antoine-Louis-François de Bésiade, Comte d’ 1759-1811. Eldest son of Claude, he was Master of the Wardrobe to Monsieur, and organised his emigration to Luxembourg in 1791. He was subsequently made Captain of the king’s Guards. He died in Madeira, his health having suffered in England
"Claude Antoine de Béziade, marquis puis duc d’Avaray (1740-1829). Militaire et homme politique, il fut élu par la noblesse de l’Orléanais le 1er avril 1789 député aux États généraux de 1789 et siégea à l’Assemblée constituante. Emprisonné en 1793, confiné dans son château d’Avaray sous l’Empire, il retrouva les faveurs de son rang sous la restauration où Louis XVIII le nomma lieutenant-général en 1814, pair de France en 1815 et membre du Conseil d’administration de l’hôtel des Invalides en 1816. En 1820 il fut fait chevalier des ordres du Roi, devint premier chambellan, officier de l’ordre royal de la Légion d’honneur puis gouverneur de la 19e division militaire."
SALLIER (Guy-Marie).
Annales françaises, Depuis le commencement du règne de Louis XVI, jusqu’aux Etats Généraux. 1774 à 1789.
Hartwell. England.
In April of 1814 he went to Hartwell in England .He accompanied Louis XVIII back to France, as Master of the Wardrobe. Louis XVIII confirmed on him the title of Duke of Avaray and Peer of France in 1817 -which the king bestowed on his eldest son, Antoine in 1799 .
Louis XVIII uplifting France from the ruins.
Louis-Philippe Crépin (1772-!851)
Louis XVIII uplifting France from the ruins.
Louis-Philippe Crépin (1772-!851)
Claude -Antoine de Béziade ,Duke of Avaray 's handwritten unpublished manuscripts of 50 pages around 1826. Many anecdotes about the Royal Family and the Court as well as notes on the Memoirs of his brother in-law Prince Montbarrey.The position of the Duke as Master of the Wardrobe to Monsieur (later Louis XVIII) and his wife close to his wife the Countess d 'Artois allowed him to attend Queen Marie Antoinette regularly between 1784-1789. 400 more pages.
Comments
on the 3 volumes of Memoirs of his brother-in-law the Prince de
Montbarey, lieutenant general of the armies, Secretary of State for War
of Louis XVI (1777-1780), who died in emigration. These Notes often
dispute the accuracy of Montbarey's statements (nobiliary claims, cause
of his dismissal from the ministry, observations on the Court, events of
the Revolution), reproach the author for being unjust towards his
contemporaries, and provide clarifications , testimonies and additional
anecdotes to rectify the content; he adds spicy anecdotes on the ladies
of the Court (in particular the Countess de Mailly, the Countess Diane
de Polignac to whom Louis XVI offered a chamber pot at the bottom of
which he had painted an eye, Marie-Antoinette at the evenings of the
Countess of 'Artois, etc.).The last pages of these Notes are damning:
Montbarey was a bad minister, schemer, profiteer, boastful, father of
many bastards.
Claude-Antoine de Béziade, Duke of AVARAY (1740-1829).
8 dictated manuscripts, with some corrections and autograph additions, [circa 1812-1827]; about 400 pages most ..
* History of England (incomplete: 7 notebooks numbered 4 to 9, and 11, forming 304 p.).
History of England since the end of the reign of Edward I (1307) until the assassination of Prime Minister Perceval (1812): Now the theater of events is under the eyes of those who read this story; they are witnesses of the present that it is impossible and useless to write, before it has in turn given way to the future which is unknown to all ... * [Histoire de France]
This third and last notebook relates the reign of Louis XVI and speaks of the erosion of the authority that preceded the taking of the Bastille: thus was begun, with indomitable violence, the revolution that destroyed a monarchy of 14 centuries. Here, therefore, ends our task ... * A picturesque account of a discovery in a known country , [1820].
Family excursion, in Normandy ... * Notes on the Memoirs of the Prince de Montbarey- [circa 1827]). Comments on the 3 volumes of Memoirs of his brother-in-law Prince de Montbarey, Lieutenant General of the Armies, Secretary of State for the War of Louis XVI (1777-1780),who died in emigration. ...
Various manuscripts of the same provenance are included: Observations on the commune of Avaray in 1800 Deploring the fact that the commune has become a rallying point for demagogues and ambitious people; The copy of an epitaph engraved on a black stone found at the castle of Avaray for Perronnelle de Champaigne, countess of
Montgomery. a continuation of the life of Henri IV -Italian Versions 1822, Notes about a young girl, cousin of Ernestine de Crillon ...
Montgomery. a continuation of the life of Henri IV -Italian Versions 1822, Notes about a young girl, cousin of Ernestine de Crillon ...
-
Prince Montbarrey, Duke D'Avaray's brother-in-law.
Thais de Mailly-Nesle - Princess Montbarrey -
Sister of the Duchess d'Avaray in 1779.
Another sister of the Duchess 'D'Avaray was Marie Anne de Mailly-Nesle-Rubempré.
Marquise de Coislin.
She also had a fling with Louis XV ,like her cousins, but Madame Pompadour ,who feared her got her banned from Versailles.She left France and traveled through Europe where she became the mistress of King Gustav III of Sweden as well as Tsar Peter III of Russia.
She had the Hotel de Coislin built on Place de la Concorde in Paris and lived there until she died in 1817.
The Marquise Coislin's grave in the cemetery of Pére Lachaise
NEW YORK DAILY TRIBUNE
March 15 1843
THE POWER OF POLITENESS :-
Mrs. Cassimer in an essay about politeness:-
"The Marquise De Coislin solicited an audience from Fouche, France's Minister of Police. The audience was granted but Fouche was resolved to refuse whatever the Marquise would ask for. Receiving her leaning with his elbow on on the chimney piece and did not invite her to a seat.
"Citizen Minister" said the Marquise." I come to ask what crime my sister Madame D'Avaray has committed that she should be exiled?" "She is a enemy of the Government " Replied Fouche "and has the audacity to set it at defiance""She audacious" replied the Marquise" She to defy the First Council -how little you know her.She is too timid that she would never even venture to say "Citizen Minister have the goodness to offer me a chair".
At these words Fouche was so disconcerted that he lost all his courage to be hostile.The Marquise had a chair and the Duke and Duchess D'Avaray had permission to return to Paris from London.
Joseph Fouche- Duke d'Otrante.
Minister of Police.
-----------------------------------------
Four De Mailly sisters became mistresses of King Louis XV.
They were all daughters of the Duchess d'Avaray's father's cousin.
Her father was Louis IV Marquis de Nesle (1696-1767)
His cousin was Louis III Marquise de Nesle.
People found it rather disturbing that the king's attention should be uniquely directed to members of one family. It seemed somehow incestuous. But Louis XV was a very lonely man, uneasy with new faces, comfortable only with familiar ones. Timid by nature, he sought out people with whom he could be at ease. The sisters afforded him the comfort of habit.
Louis XV of France.
Louise Julie de Mailly-Nesle, Comtesse de Mailly.
Mistress number one.
Louis XV caused quite a scandal when he chose to take four out of five sisters as his mistresses! The first of the de Mailly sisters to catch the eye of Louis XV was Louise Julie de Mailly. She was the eldest sister and was born in 1710. But even though Louise Julie actually was the mistress of Louis XV from 1732 it was not until 1738 that the King finally recognized her as his official maîtresse-en-titre.
The King fell very much in love with Pauline-Félicité-the second sister -but decided to keep Louise Julie as his official maîtresse-en-titre - Pauline-Félicité became a "second" mistress. Louis XV adored Pauline-Félicité and showered her in expensive presents; he even gave her the château Choisy-le-Roi.
Louise Julie was still the King's official mistress but she was not as close to the King that she once had been. In order to prevent her regaining her position, the Duc de Richelieu quickly arranged for another one of her younger sisters to be brought to court. This time it was Marie Anne.
Marie Anne was the youngest daughter and had been born in 1717. She was a widow of the Marquise de La Tournelle when she was brought to court.
But Marie Anne would not become another "second" mistress like Pauline-Félicité. She demanded that Louise Julie was to be removed from her position and herself be granted the title of maîtresse-en-titre. The King was by this time tired of Louise Julie and gladly sent her away - Louise Julie went to a convent.
Marie Anne was not satisfied with being recognized as the King's maîtresse-en-titre. She wanted the title of Duchesse, a permanent income and an official position at court - the King readily granted her her desires. Now, Marie Anne found herself the dame du palais of the Queen, the Duchesse de Chateauroux with an income of no less than 80.000 livres.
At this time the fourth sister was already at court. Diane Adélaïde walked with her sister to and from the King's chambers but Marie Anne never considered her a threat. Marie Anne suddenly died on December 8 1744 and Diane Adélaïde became the King's mistress for a very short period of time.
"Choosing an entire family – is that being unfaithful, or constant?
Ended a favorite poem about these affairs.
Diane-Adelaide de Mailly- Nesle.
Duchesse de Laraguais.
It all ended for the De Mailly sisters when Madame Pompadour became the official mistress of Louis XV.
---------------------------------------------------------
The Painter Francoise Gerard was a pupil of David.
His painting"the Coronation of Charles X" in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Chartres.
The Chancellor can be seen standing in front of Archbishop of Rheims with Prince Talleyrand and the Duke d'Avaray- Claude Antoine -behind him
La photo représente le moment immédiatement après que la consécration, Carlos X, assise sur le trône, embrasse l’héritier de la Couronne, le duc d’Angoulême. Avant que le trône est avec bras stemextended archevêque de Reims et entre lui et le duc d’Angoulême sont d’Orléans et Prince Conde. Derrière le roi à la gauche du trône sont le duc du Havre, de Croy et maréchal Victor, duc de Bellune et sur la droite, le Marquis de Rivière et bien plus encore derrière, à gauche de cela, le baron de Clandeves et sur la droite le duc de Montemart. Dans le centre de l’image, porte manteau et bonnet garniture de l’hermine, le chancelier de France, vicomte Dambray, à sa droite le Prince de Talleyrand et entre les deux est le duc d’Avaray. Dans le groupe de tête sur la droite le prélat qui est à côté de votre taburetete, est le Marquis de Lauriston et à côté du maréchal comte Cossé Brissac. Le dernier caractère à droite est le maréchal Soult, puis vers l’intérieur sont par ordre le Mortier de Mariscal, vicomte de La Rochefoucauld et à côté de la base de la colonne le maréchal Jourdan.
The Duchess of Berry and the Court of Charles X
"The first chamberlains, masters of the wardrobe, were five in number: the Marquis de Boisgelin, the Count de Pradel, the Count Curial, the Marquis d’Avaray, the Duke d’Avaray. There were besides thirty-two gentlemen of the chamber, without counting those that were honorary."
----------------
Beziade family listed living in Paris during this time.:-
BEZIADE (de), Claude Antoine Lieutenant général de l'Orléanais x MAILLY (de), Angélique Adélaïde Sophie, 1790-01-09 , l'épouse grand-tante maternelle de la mineure D'ARENBERG. -> Voir (jacquesboissel2)
BEZIADE (de), Claude Antoine Marquis de PARAY, 1785-05-30 , cousin paternel des mineurs DE BOËIL. -> Voir (jacquesboissel2)
BEZIADE (de), Jacques Premier valet ..., 1624-09-23 , Acte incomplet. -> Voir (alachaud)
BEZIADE (de), Théophile x DES ESTANGS, Marie, 1682-01-10 , Marie Françoise, leur fille. -> Voir (annlefloch)
BEZIADE, Jean Baptiste Valet de chambre tapissier du duc de Laval, 1785-05-16 -> Voir (ma15)
BEZIADE D'ANARET (de), Theophile x DES ESTANGS , Marie, 1687-07-08 , Inventaire. -> Voir (geneareb)
BEZIADE D'AVARAY (de), Antoine Louis François Comte, 1787-11-08 , frère de la marquise DE SOURDIS. -> Voir (jacquesboissel2)
BEZIADE d'AVARAY (de), Antoine Théophile, 1743-03-01 , 2 ans. -> Voir (goepou)
BEZIADE D'AVARAY (de), Augustine Olympe Sophie x ESCOUBLEAU (d'), Antoine René Marquis de SOURDIS, 1787-11-08 , mineurs émancipés par leur mariage. -> Voir (jacquesboissel2)
BEZIADE d'AVARAY (de), Catherine Angélique x BOEIL (de), Jean Louis, 1764-01-07 , Parents de l'époux. -> Voir (pettouati)
BEZIADE d'AVARAY (de), Charles Théophile, 1743-03-01 , 6 ans. -> Voir (goepou)
BEZIADE D'AVARAY (de), Charles brigadier des armées du roi, colonel x MEYRET, Elizabeth Margueritte, 1743-02-20 , 2 enfants mineurs Charles Teophile et Antoine Teophile. -> Voir (sdoum)
BEZIADE D'AVARAY (de), Claude Antoine Marquis, 1787-11-08 , père de la marquise DE SOURDIS, nommé curateur /tuteur du jeune couple. -> Voir (jacquesboissel2)
BEZIADE d'AVARAY (de), Michel Charles Brigadier aux armées du Roy x MEGRET, Elizabeth Marguerite, 1743-03-01 -> Voir (goepou)
BEZIADE D'AVARAY (de), Olympe x LEPICART D'AUBERCOURT, André Marquis d'AUBERCOURT, 1787-11-08 , l'épouse décédée veuve , liens de parenté non mentionnés. -> Voir (jacquesboissel2)
BEZIADE d'AVARAY (de), Olympe x LE PICARD d'AUBERCOUR, , 1746-05-13 -> Voir (moislainsjp)
BEZIADE d'AVAREY MARQUIS (de), Charles x MEGRET, Marguerite Elisabeth, 1768-04-05 , Parents de l'époux. -> Voir (vauban)
BEZIADE d'AVAREY MARQUIS (de), Claude Antoine x DEMAILLY, Angélique Adelaïde Sophie, 1768-04-05 , Les époux. -> Voir (vauban
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THIRD DUKE D'AVARAY .
JOSEPH THEOPHILE PARFAIT BEZIADE (1770-1859)
Duke from 1811-1859- Son of the preceding Duke.
Joseph-Theophilus-Perfect of Beziade married, in London , Aime-Julie-Michel ( - Nantes ✝ - Blois), daughter of Pierre François Michel (1755-1835), Count of Tharon.
Joseph
de Béziade, first known as Count de Béziade was the last son of Claude
Antoine de Beziade (1740-1829), Marquis d'Avaray, The eldest son
having died in 1811, and the second having been shot at Quiberon in
1795.
He followed, like his father and his brothers,a military career.. He entered the service in 1787, in the Bodyguard of Monsieur - later Louis XVIII .He served, in 1788, at the Camp of Saint Omer .He emigrated in 1791 and joined the Princes Army in England .He served in the Army of Great Britain in the Mortemart regiment and reached the rank of colonel in 1798.After the revolution he returned to France.
The count became Marquis d'Avaray in 1817, when his father was the Duke D'Avaray.. On the other hand, he held the office of master of the king's wardrobe, from which the Due d'Avaray resigned in 1825, reserving his honors.
Like his father and his brothers, the Marquis d'Avaray had also lent a constant, though more modest, support to the royalist cause. On the recent death of his father and the precedence of his two brothers called him to peerage by hereditary right. . At the same time, he inherited the title of Duke of Avaray .
After he continued to sit until the day when the heredity of the peerage was abolished, ( ) he resigned as Peer of France along with twelve of his colleague.He retired on as Lieutenant-General and General d'Avaray no longer played any political part.
He followed, like his father and his brothers,a military career.. He entered the service in 1787, in the Bodyguard of Monsieur - later Louis XVIII .He served, in 1788, at the Camp of Saint Omer .He emigrated in 1791 and joined the Princes Army in England .He served in the Army of Great Britain in the Mortemart regiment and reached the rank of colonel in 1798.After the revolution he returned to France.
The count became Marquis d'Avaray in 1817, when his father was the Duke D'Avaray.. On the other hand, he held the office of master of the king's wardrobe, from which the Due d'Avaray resigned in 1825, reserving his honors.
Like his father and his brothers, the Marquis d'Avaray had also lent a constant, though more modest, support to the royalist cause. On the recent death of his father and the precedence of his two brothers called him to peerage by hereditary right. . At the same time, he inherited the title of Duke of Avaray .
After he continued to sit until the day when the heredity of the peerage was abolished, ( ) he resigned as Peer of France along with twelve of his colleague.He retired on as Lieutenant-General and General d'Avaray no longer played any political part.
Both the the Besiade and Michel families were part of the French noble families who emigrated when the French Revolution started. The two met here and got married in London .Their first child Rosalbe was also born in England.Later they returned to Paris and occupied the Hotel d'Avaray in Paris.
They had three children :-
Sophie Angélique Laure Rosalbe (born in 1801 in England - 1882), married, in the Saint Thomas d 'Aquinas church Paris to Baron Charles-Pierre Shakerley.
Second Husband :-Marquis Joseph 'd' Herrera.
Louis Charles Theophile de Besiade d'Avaray.
Grave of Louis Charles Theophile de Besiade D'Avaray .
Birth 26 April 1818 .
Arras Nord-pas-de Calais,. France .
Death 30 November 1878
Baden-Baden Stadtskreis Wurttemburg Germany.
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Michel d' Tharon .Coat of Arms.
The Michel family is of ancient chivalry, originally from Brittany, Diocese of St.Malo which was maintained in the reformations of 1434, 1513 and 1669, as noble and ancient mining and lineage, it goes down by direct descent and not interrupted, identified by titles originals, decisions of the Parliament of Brittany and patents of Jean Michel or Michiel, Knight, living in 1339, who remained in his mansion noble of Bossacolart, parish of St Malo. The Michel family is present in business for generations . There are 17 merchants, shipowners and bankers, installed in Nantes, Orleans, Paris, or in other cities of Europe..
- Pierre François Michel, Count of Drak'tharon (1755- 1835) Nantes. Military engaged in 1775 in the bodyguards of the Count of Artois then captain of the Dragons in 1778. He sits on the States in 1786 and was one of the signatories of the protest of the nobility in 1789. To the revolution, he emigrated and fought during the expedition of the Quiberon . He was Marshal of the camps and armies of the King, Knight of the Royal and Military order of St Louis and the Legion of honor. He married Sophie of Besne.Their daughter was
- Aimée Julie Michel, married to Joseph Theophile Perfect de Besiade Duke of Avaray, Lieutenant general, peer of France and chamberlain to the King.
Chateau d' Blottereau. Michel Family Chateau.
-----------
Painting of Lady Elizabeth Spencer-Stanhope .
Earl of Leicester's daughter
In the next letter- dated 25th February 1819 Lady Spencer- Stanhope describes an event which electrified all France:-
"The Duc D'Avaray was an intimate friend of Louis XVIII. His granddaughter Rosalba, (also known as Laura) aged seventeen, was extraordinarily beautiful and much sought after by many aspirants for her hand. Among these latter was a young Englishman, twenty-six years of age, Charles Shakerley, who was a great friend of the Stanhope's. Indeed, it appears extremely probable that Mrs Stanhope was responsible for his introduction to Mdlle. Rosalba D'Avaray as she was indirectly responsible for what followed. It was owing to her invitation that Madame Contibonne, whose presence might have averted what happened, was absent from her home on the eventful evening when Charles Shakerley took fate into his hands. .The great event which at this moment occupies all at Versailles and all Paris, and probably will shortly occupy all the beau monde of France. This great event is Shakerley's elopement with Mlle. D'Avaray, on Sunday the 21st of February 1819.
William saw Charles Shakerley either Saturday or Sunday in Paris, very disconsolate after having just been refused by the ducal family. Charles told him he was packing up, and was just going to England for a week and then intended to depart for Petersburg, to take unto himself some Russian Belle.
William came down with Madame & Mlle. de Contibonne, who told him Mlle. D'Avaray was their dear friend, and they related the history of the refusal. Mdlle. de Contibonne came here to dine with her mother, who was obliged to return, having company at Paris in the evening. One of her daughters remained at home, and dined with Mdlle. D'Avaray . The latter was to walk home with her maid to dress for a party. Instead of going home she got into a cabriolet with her maid, and drove to the border where Shakerley, with two carriages, was waiting. They went off to Ostend, the lady and her maid in one carriage, the gentleman and his valet in the other. At Ostend they sent word to the Duchess D'Avaray where they were, and in return the Duc d'Avaray , who had no alternative, sent a "permission de marriage".
If Charles Shakerley murdered three women, there could not be such an bigger outcry; Old and young, male and female, married and single, all unite in abuse of the poor lady. The French dandies are in a rage that the prettiest girl in Paris should have run off with "un Anglais". The English all are delighted!
It was certainly a bold step for a French girl, as eloping, or as the French call it being "enlevee", is considered everything that is shocking! Mdlle D'Avaray married Charles Shakerley March 18, 1819 in the Saint Thomas d' Aquinas church in Paris and went to England to live with him.
"Chaplain to the British Embassy, and Minister to the English Protestant Congregation at the Church of the Oratoire in Paris.
In 1827 - Baron Charles Shakerley was back in Paris with his attorney James Roscoe to find out why his wife Rosalba Beziade ,daughter of the Duke D'Avaray has not returned to England. He summoned her footman Vasseur who put him in touch with Francoise Paix the footman of the Marquis Joseph D'Herrera .
With the promise of better employment in England and ten pounds a month the two footman left France for England .Here they were to testify at the hearing to dissolve the marriage of Charles Peter Baron of Shakerley ,Esquire of the Parish of Egham in Surrey with Angelique Rosalbe Shakerley his now wife ,so to enable him to marry again.
Baron and Mrs Shakerley met the Marquis D'Hererra at Leamington Spa in Warwickshire England in 1826. Mrs Shakerley and the Marquis D'Hererra enjoyed each others company very much and at one ball- that her husband did not attend -she danced with him the whole night. She left for Paris just before Christmas 1826 -as she use to spend her winters there and return to England mid summer .Baron Shakerley use to join her but this time she went alone. Soon after she returned to her father's home in Paris ,the Hotel D'Avaray on Rue Grenelle .
(During the questioning one learned that 17-18 servants were employed in the Hotel D'Avaray with three coaches and eight horses available for the use of the ducal family)
D'Herrera arrived in Paris soon after .Rosalba (also known as Laura) introduced him to her parents as a friend and he was invited over for dinner. After dinner he would get into the coach- slam the door but get out on the other side and join Mrs Shakerley in her suite of rooms on the first floor and spend the night.
He ensconced himself at 51 Rue de Provence, but rented a room in the Hotel D'Hamburg. in the Rue Bon Enfant number 45. Here- the two footmen testified- the lovers met regularly from 8:00 pm until midnight. There were no chairs in the room and when the footman went in to clean up, the bed was "deranged". This went on from January until late April.
In May Madame Shakerley left for her father's country estate ,the Chateau D'Avaray in the Loire Valley. Soon after the Marquis arrived- with his footman Paix - and booked into the Hotel Quavert in Mer under the name Arriosa.
Here Rosalba would meet him coming on foot and alone and staying from 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm.Once again the footman testified that the bed was "deranged" when they left.
Some evening the Marquis would wear a blue cloth mantle and cap to disguise himself and meet Rosalba in the woods near the chateau and stay until after midnight.
In July the Marquis had to return to Paris for a few weeks but soon again left for Orleans where her rented merchandise boat used for navigating goods on the Loire . The cabin was furnished with a rented bed by Paix ,and after they stocked the boat with some food they set off down the Loire river and moored the boat near Avaray. A long plank would be put to shore to make it easy for Rosalba to board..Here the lovers spent 12 days of bliss with Rosalba returning to the chateau every evening. In September the Marquis and Paix sailed into Blois and stayed in the Hotel 'D'Angleterre.
In 1829 James Roscoe arrived at the Hotel D'Avaray in Paris and served Madame Shakerley with her divorce papers and setting Charles Shakerley free to marry again.
Rosalba married Marquis Joseph D'Herrera and died in 1882. She is buried in the family crypt in Avaray.
"Certificate of Marriage.
"I hereby certify, That Charles Peter Shakerley of Somerford Hall, in the Parish of Astbury, in Cheshire, Bachelor, and Laure Angelique Rosalbe D'Avaray of the City of Paris, Spinster, were married in the House of His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador at Paris, according to the Form of the Church of England and Ireland, this Twenty-sixth Day of February, in the Year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and nineteen, by me,
Edward Forster, A. M."Chaplain to the British Embassy, and Minister to the English Protestant Congregation at the Church of the Oratoire in Paris.
In 1827 - Baron Charles Shakerley was back in Paris with his attorney James Roscoe to find out why his wife Rosalba Beziade ,daughter of the Duke D'Avaray has not returned to England. He summoned her footman Vasseur who put him in touch with Francoise Paix the footman of the Marquis Joseph D'Herrera .
With the promise of better employment in England and ten pounds a month the two footman left France for England .Here they were to testify at the hearing to dissolve the marriage of Charles Peter Baron of Shakerley ,Esquire of the Parish of Egham in Surrey with Angelique Rosalbe Shakerley his now wife ,so to enable him to marry again.
Baron and Mrs Shakerley met the Marquis D'Hererra at Leamington Spa in Warwickshire England in 1826. Mrs Shakerley and the Marquis D'Hererra enjoyed each others company very much and at one ball- that her husband did not attend -she danced with him the whole night. She left for Paris just before Christmas 1826 -as she use to spend her winters there and return to England mid summer .Baron Shakerley use to join her but this time she went alone. Soon after she returned to her father's home in Paris ,the Hotel D'Avaray on Rue Grenelle .
(During the questioning one learned that 17-18 servants were employed in the Hotel D'Avaray with three coaches and eight horses available for the use of the ducal family)
D'Herrera arrived in Paris soon after .Rosalba (also known as Laura) introduced him to her parents as a friend and he was invited over for dinner. After dinner he would get into the coach- slam the door but get out on the other side and join Mrs Shakerley in her suite of rooms on the first floor and spend the night.
He ensconced himself at 51 Rue de Provence, but rented a room in the Hotel D'Hamburg. in the Rue Bon Enfant number 45. Here- the two footmen testified- the lovers met regularly from 8:00 pm until midnight. There were no chairs in the room and when the footman went in to clean up, the bed was "deranged". This went on from January until late April.
In May Madame Shakerley left for her father's country estate ,the Chateau D'Avaray in the Loire Valley. Soon after the Marquis arrived- with his footman Paix - and booked into the Hotel Quavert in Mer under the name Arriosa.
Here Rosalba would meet him coming on foot and alone and staying from 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm.Once again the footman testified that the bed was "deranged" when they left.
Some evening the Marquis would wear a blue cloth mantle and cap to disguise himself and meet Rosalba in the woods near the chateau and stay until after midnight.
In July the Marquis had to return to Paris for a few weeks but soon again left for Orleans where her rented merchandise boat used for navigating goods on the Loire . The cabin was furnished with a rented bed by Paix ,and after they stocked the boat with some food they set off down the Loire river and moored the boat near Avaray. A long plank would be put to shore to make it easy for Rosalba to board..Here the lovers spent 12 days of bliss with Rosalba returning to the chateau every evening. In September the Marquis and Paix sailed into Blois and stayed in the Hotel 'D'Angleterre.
In 1829 James Roscoe arrived at the Hotel D'Avaray in Paris and served Madame Shakerley with her divorce papers and setting Charles Shakerley free to marry again.
Rosalba married Marquis Joseph D'Herrera and died in 1882. She is buried in the family crypt in Avaray.
Letter Rosalba wrote to Shakerley -read in the divorce court in London.
"I can only repeat to you, as I did yesterday, that so long as there is any question of explanations, I shall never give them to you. You tell me that if you approve those that I give to you, that then you will receive me. What would you do then if your Homme d'Affaires should not be satisfied with them? Why do you talk to me of affections?-You, who pretty well prove to me that you have none remaining for me, treating me as a criminal. I sent away Le Vasseur, being determined, as I have always been since your first letter to my Father, never to answer your horrible accusations; and as you yourself said that we could no more live happily together, I follow my own wish in this respect, in not going as a criminal to implore your pardon, and in never going to live with you again. Adieu. I am very ill; it is to you that I tell this."
French newspaper LE PROPAGATEUR 25 Mei 1830 reporting on the adultury with the Spanish Marquid d' Herrera and divorce of Rosalba d'Avaray from Charles Shakerley ,
German newspaper report on Rosalba's adultery .
Monsieur
Joseph Théophile Parfait de Besiade
Duc D'Avaray
(Joseph Théophile Parfait de Besiade D'Avaray)
Ancien Pair de France
Lieutenant-General en Retraite
Décédé
a Paris a l'age de 89 ans
le 14 Avril 1859
Familles apparentées:
D'Avaray ;Shakerley ;De Moustier : De Tharon ;
41 La Chapelle-du-Château-d’Avaray. Cne d’Avaray. Mr de Beziade d’Avaray, Chapelle du Château d’Avaray, paroisse d’Avaray, 29 messidor an XI, renouvelée le 3 Novembre 1824 (A. du diocèse de Blois-7 E 2). Chapelle domestique desservie au château d’Avaray.
Joseph Théophile Parfait de Besiade
Duc D'Avaray
(Joseph Théophile Parfait de Besiade D'Avaray)
Ancien Pair de France
Lieutenant-General en Retraite
Décédé
a Paris a l'age de 89 ans
le 14 Avril 1859
Familles apparentées:
D'Avaray ;Shakerley ;De Moustier : De Tharon ;
41 La Chapelle-du-Château-d’Avaray. Cne d’Avaray. Mr de Beziade d’Avaray, Chapelle du Château d’Avaray, paroisse d’Avaray, 29 messidor an XI, renouvelée le 3 Novembre 1824 (A. du diocèse de Blois-7 E 2). Chapelle domestique desservie au château d’Avaray.
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