Jean-Baptiste Lynch (3 June 1749 – 15 August 1835) was a Count of the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

, Mayor of Bordeaux and a peer of France, sitting in the upper house of the

French Senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...

. Lynch opposed the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

(1789–1799), and was later imprisoned under the Reign of Terror (5 September 1793 – 8 July 1794). In 1808, he was appointed

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

, and was for a time entirely devoted to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. In 1813, he contacted the royalist agents, and in 1814 he surrendered the city to the British.

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

later appointed him a peer of France.

Biography

Early life

Lynch was born in 1749, the son of "Thomas Lynch, Esquire, and Lady Petronilla Drouillard". His father's family were of Irish origin, being one of the

Tribes of Galway The Tribes of Galway ( ga, Treibheanna na Gaillimhe) were 14 merchant families who dominated the political, commercial and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late 19th centuries. They were the families ...

."Lynch (Jean-Baptiste, Count)," by Robert, Adolphe and Cougny, Gaston: ''Dictionary French parliamentarians'', 1889, Volume IV, p. 205. In an ancient, but small notability, the Catholic Lynch family had to flee persecution and seek refuge in

in the seventeenth century. John Lynch, an officer in the Irish army, and grandfather of Jean-Baptiste, settled there and became naturalised in 1710,"Lynch mayor of Irish origin," in History of mayors of Bordeaux , Aquitaine The Records, 2008, p. 281. but he did not succeed in his trade integration. Thomas Lynch made a rich marriage by marrying the daughter of treasurer Pierre Drouillard.Figeac, Michel: ''Bordeaux Destinies of the nobility (1770–1830)'' , Historic Federation South West, 1996, p. 860. Lynch was destined by his father to become a lawyer. He was appointed to advise the Bordeaux Parlement in December 1770, and received this position in 1771. He married the daughter of Berthon Leberthon, the first president of the parliament. Michaud, Louis-Gabriel: "Biographie universelle ancient", Paris, 1843–1865, Volume 25, pp. 556-558. When his stepfather was elected as a deputy from Bordeaux to the

Estates General of 1789 The Estates General of 1789 was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). It was the last of the Estates General of the Kingdom o ...

, Lynch followed him to Paris and publicly professed his opinions, which earned him being imprisoned during the Terror. He was released after

Thermidor Thermidor () was the eleventh month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the French word ''thermal'', derived from the Greek word "thermos" (''heat''). Thermidor was the second month of the summer quarter (''mois d'ét� ...

Mayor of Bordeaux

Named

General council General council may refer to: In education: * General Council (Scottish university), an advisory body to each of the ancient universities of Scotland * General Council of the University of St Andrews, the corporate body of all graduates and senio ...

under the

French Consulate The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Co ...

, he was appointed by the Emperor as

of Bordeaux. He later became a member of the

Nobility of the First French Empire As Emperor of the French, Napoleon I created titles of nobility to institute a stable elite in the First French Empire, after the instability resulting from the French Revolution. Like many others, both before and since, Napoleon found that t ...

and a Chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Lynch delivers the city

Lynch chose to join the House of Bourbon after he was not faithful to Napoleon because he did not agree with his

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to g ...

s.''Memoirs of the Prince de Talleyrand'', Volume II, 1891 edition, p. 143 During the Hundred Days, Lynch fled to England. He returned to France during the Bourbon Restoration, when Louis XVIII made him a peer of France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Jean-Baptiste 1749 births 1835 deaths Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration Counts of the First French Empire French people of Irish descent Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur