Jacques de Beaufranchet, ''Seigneur d'Ayat'', was born 5 March 1728. His sister Amable married Gilbert Antoine des Aix, ''seigneur de Veygoux'', and was mother to the famous
General Desaix, who died at the
Battle of Marengo in 1800. Beaufranchet was captain to the major's aide for the Beauvoisis regiment.
On 25 November 1755 he was married to
Marie-Louise O'Murphy, "la belle Morphyse", who had been one of
King Louis XV's mistresses. O'Murphy was born in
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
,
Normandy, to a family of
Irish origin with known criminal pasts. Upon her unwise attempt to take the place of longtime favorite
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...
as
maitresse-en-titre, Louis XV sent O'Murphy away, gave her a false identity as "Marie-Louise Morphy de Boisfailly", daughter of an Irish
gentleman
A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...
, and had his agents quickly find her a suitable husband. Beaufranchet was selected for his aristocratic family, youth and handsomeness, respectable military career, and relative lack of money. Days after O'Murphy's expulsion from the King's service, they were hastily married in a very small and private ceremony, with neither Beaufranchet's parents nor any of O'Murphy's family in attendance. Louis XV provided O'Murphy with 200,000
''livres'' in dowry and 1000 ''livres'' in marital fees, and separately gave Beaufranchet 50,000 ''livres'' for the marriage.
[Connaissez-vous ces auvergnats célèbres ? 1750-1850, Georges-Léonard Hémeret, Editions Créer (1990) p.168]
Beaufranchet was killed 5 November 1757 at the
Battle of Rossbach. He was survived by his wife; their daughter, Louise; and their son,
Louis Charles Antoine de Beaufranchet, who was born seventeen days after his father's death.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaufranchet, Jacques
1728 births
1757 deaths