Armand Chappée

Armand Chappée (30 April 1835 – 22 September 1922) was a French iron master, founder of the Chappée group. He was the son of a grocer, found work as an accountant at an iron foundry near Le Mans, married the owner's daughter and became owner in turn. He built up the factory, introduced modern technology and made the Chappée brand of cast iron products widely recognised. He was a paternalistic employer who provided many benefits to his workers. His political views were described as "militant reactionary".

Background: Doré, Chevé et Cie

The Antoigné factory, which would become the Chappée factory, was in the commune of Sainte-Jamme on the Sarthe River from Le Mans.
A forge had been established here in 1618, and had operated with the same technology until the 19th century, but in the early 19th century faced growing competition from more modern forges.
The blast furnace at Antoigné was closed in 1822.
In 1827 the iron master Charles Drouet restructured the works and in 1829 began to produce cast iron mouldings.
The business struggled, and the Antoigné forge was again closed in 1843.

Victor Doré, who had worked in the Antoigné forge, formed a partnership with Joseph Chevé, and in 1841 they founded the Saint-Pavin factory in Le Mans to smelt all types of metal.
In 1845 the enterprise became "Doré, Chevé et Cie".
In December 1854 they leased the Antoigné forge and decided to rebuild the blast furnace, at first only to feed the Saint-Pavin foundry.
A railway station was opened in Le Mans on 28 May 1854.
In 1855 the partners rebuilt the Antoigné blast furnace and created a moulding workshop.
By 1856 it was producing four or five tons of gray cast iron daily, some of which was cast into bearings for the Le Mans-Rennes railway line, and some sent to the Saint-Pavin factory in Le Mans for secondary casting.

Life

Armand-Alexandre Chappée was born in Auteuil, Oise, on April 30, 1835, son of Michel Alexandre Chappée, a grocer and Sophie-Joséphine Doré.
His mother was first cousin of Victor Doré.
Armand Chappée began work in agriculture, then in 1856 became secretary-accountant at the Antoigné factory.
He married his second cousin Victoire Julienne Doré, eldest daughter of Victor Doré, on 7 September 1858.
He joined the company with 20,000 francs from his parents and a dowry of 40,000 francs from his wife.
Chappée soon became the closest partner of his father in law.
In 1860 Joseph Chevé left the company.
That year the charcoal blast furnace, destroyed by a fire, was replaced by cupola furnaces which remelted English cast iron.
At the start of 1861 the workforce had dropped from 111 to 70 workers, mostly producing pipes, but by June 1862 there were 166 workers, including 28 women and 6 children, and by 1872 there were 200 workers.

In 1867 Doré was made a knight of the Legion of Honour.
He had two daughters, the second of whom married a M. Martin.
Doré divided his company between his two sons in law, and Chappée received the Antoigné factory.
The factory had been modernized, and working hours had been reduced to 11 hours per day, from 6 am to 6 pm with an hour for lunch at noon.
There were also rotating night shifts of no more than 12 hours.
Women worked only 9 hours per day.
As of 1889 the Antoigné factory was connected by a steam tramway to the Montbizot station on the railway from Le Mans to Caen

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