Bonnaventure-François de Boisfermé

Bonnaventure-François de Boisfermé (1661 – 11 December 1722) was a French soldier and colonial administrator. He was commander or acting governor in Marie-Galante, Guadeloupe and Martinique. He was appointed governor of Grenada but died before taking office.

Bonnaventure-François de Boisfermé
Governor of Marie-Galante
In office
1 September 1696 – .
Preceded byCharles Auger
M. de Laurière
Succeeded byCharles de Brunier de Larnage
Commander of Guadeloupe (interim)
In office
1 May 1703 – 1705
Preceded byCharles Auger
Succeeded byRobert Cloche de La Malmaison
Commander of Martinique (interim)
In office
1712–1713
Preceded byJean-Pierre de Charitte
Governor of Grenada
In office
1 December 1722 – 11 December 1722
Preceded byJean Balthazar du Houx
Succeeded byRobert Giraut du Poyet
Personal details
Born1661
Saint-Michel-sur-Loire, Indre-et-Loire, France
Died11 December 1722
Martinique
NationalityFrench
OccupationSoldier, administrator

Early years (1661–95)

Bonnaventure-François de Boisfermé was born in 1661 in Saint-Michel-sur-Loire, Indre-et-Loire. His family was of the old nobility.[1] On 1 January 1691 he was a lieutenant of the artillery.[2]

Marie-Galante (1695–1702)

On 1 January 1695 Boisfermé was the king's lieutenant on Marie-Galante.[2] Charles Auger, nominal governor of Marie-Galante, was named governor of Guadeloupe on 21 August 1695 and was replaced by a M. de Lauriére.[3] Lauriére died soon after and Boisfermé was named to replace him as governor of Marie-Galante.[4] He was appointed on 1 September 1696.[2] To compensate Marie-Galante for the destruction that had been caused by the English, on 3 November 1699 the king free the island from all taxes for four years.[4] Boisfermé held office until 1702.[5]

Guadeloupe (1702–05)

Boisfermé was commander in Guadeloupe from 8 November 1702.[1][2] Marie-Galante was again taken and ruined by the English on 6 March 1703.[4] On 19 March 1703, the English invasion fleet under Walker and Christopher Codrington was sighted off the south of Guadeloupe. Over the next few days the English disembarked over 4,000 troops at three landing points, forcing back the French defenders to Fort Saint Charles in Basse-Terre. On 3 April 1703, a French fleet arrived under Jean Gabaret, lieutenant general for the French Antilles, with 820 men from Martinique. The subordinate commanders included Boisfermé, Louis Gaston Caquery de Valmenière, Jean Clair Dyel Du Parquet, François de Collart and Jean Du Buc. An attempt to hold Fort Francis failed and the French were forced to the east.[6] Gabaret adopted scorched earth tactics, destroying resources before falling back into the interior, then harassing the English while disease, drink and lack of food reduced their strength.[7] They abandoned Guadeloupe on 15 May 1703 after causing great material damage but few French casualties.[6]

A royal decree of 1 May 1703 made Auger governor of Tortuga and the Coast of Saint-Domingue in place of Jean-Baptiste du Casse, squadron commander of the naval armies of America.[8] Boisfermé was interim governor of Guadeloupe from 1703 to 1705.[9]

Last years (1705–22)
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Marie-Galante
Martinique
St. Christophe
Islands in the Lesser Antilles

Boisfermé was succeeded in Guadeloupe in 1705 by Robert Cloche de La Malmaison.[5] The French regained Marie-Galante in 1706.[4] Boisfermé was made commander at Fort Royal, Martinique on 2 November 1705.[2] He was interim commander of Martinique in the absence of a governor from 1712 to 1713. On 8 February 1712 in Fort Royal he married Catherine Le Boucher, widow of Emmanuel Nadau du Triel and mother of Charles François Emmanuel Nadau du Treil, future governor of Guadeloupe.[1]

In letter of 20 May 1713 Jérôme Phélypeaux wrote that Boisfermé was the natural choice for governor of Marie-Galante, although he might not want to return, being mortified by the appointment of Malmaison as governor of Guadeloupe. He had excellent military qualities and had proved his loyalty by losing an arm in the service of the king. He had performed well as commander of Guadeloupe when Malmaison was lieutenant of the king.[10] Boisfermé was appointed the commander of Marie-Galante on 1 August 1714.[2] Charles de Brunier de Larnage was appointed royal lieutenant of Marie-Galante, taking office on 23 August 1714.[5]

Boisfermé was made governor of Grenada on 1 December 1722.[2] He succeeded Jean Balthazar du Houx, who had died on 29 August 1722.[11] Boisfermé died in Martinique on 11 December 1722.[2] He was succeeded in Grenada by Robert Giraut du Poyet, who held office from 1723 to 1727.[11] Robert Philippe de Longvilliers de Poincy, captain general of Saint-Christophe, became the next governor of Marie-Galante.[4]

Notes
    1. de Salignac de La Mothe Fenelon, p. 1827.
    2. Boisfermé, Bonnaventure François de – iREL.
    3. Boyer-Peyreleau 1823, p. 310.
    4. Boyer-Peyreleau 1823, p. 311.
    5. Cahoon (b).
    6. Marley 1998, p. 225.
    7. Pritchard 2004, p. 376.
    8. Saint-Méry 1784, p. 699.
    9. Boisfermé (Bonnaventure François de), gouverneur par intérim.
    10. Rennard 1935, p. 106.
    11. Cahoon.

    Sources
    • Boisfermé, Bonnaventure François de (décédé en 1722) (in French), iREL: Archives nationales, retrieved 2018-09-20
    • Boisfermé (Bonnaventure François de), gouverneur par intérim (in French), iREL: Archives nationales, retrieved 2018-09-21
    • Boyer-Peyreleau, Eugene-Edouard comte (1823), Les Antilles françaises, particulièrement la Guadeloupe, depuis leur découverte jusqu'au 1er janvier 1823 (in French), Brissot-Thivars, retrieved 2018-09-21
    • Cahoon, Ben, "Grenada", Worldstatesmen.org, retrieved 2018-09-20
    • Cahoon (b), Ben, "Guadeloupe", Worldstatesment.org, retrieved 2018-09-20
    • "de Salignac de La Mothe Fenelon", G.H.C. Bulletin (in French) (88), December 1996, retrieved 2018-09-20
    • Marley, David (1998), Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present, ABC-CLIO, ISBN 978-0-87436-837-6, retrieved 2018-09-21
    • Pritchard, Pritchard, James S. (2004-01-22), In Search of Empire: The French in the Americas, 1670–1730, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-82742-3, retrieved 2018-09-07
    • Rennard, Joseph (1935), Tricentenaire des Antilles : Guadeloupe 1635-1935 (in French), Government of Guadeloupe, retrieved 2018-09-21
    • Saint-Méry, Médéric Louis Élie Moreau de (1784), Loix et constitutions des colonies françoises de l'Amerique sous le vent... (in French), L'Auteur, retrieved 2018-09-06
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