Administrative notice from Le Blanc... (1837)

NRA-L-000010 / 1837

Administrative notice from Le Blanc de Mauvesin to Monsieur le Préfet, 1837-02-28

Le Blanc de Mauvesin tells the prefect that he will abandon his request for a cemetery concession at Mazières unless Port-Sainte-Marie accepts his offer of 100 francs to the commune and 200 francs for the poor, explaining that he wishes to memorialize Mr de Laboyrie.

Neruda Archives
NRA-L-000010

NRA-L-000010 image 1 showing the address panel, postal marks and exterior annotations of Le Blanc de Mauvesin's 1837 letter to the Prefect of Lot-et-Garonne. — **Image 1**Address panel, postal marks and exterior annotations.

NRA-L-000010 image 2 showing the first page of Le Blanc de Mauvesin's letter concerning a cemetery concession for the Laboyrie grave. — **Image 2**Letter text - Page 1, ending at the manuscript page division.

NRA-L-000010 image 3 showing the second page, closing and signature of Le Blanc de Mauvesin's 1837 letter. — **Image 3**Letter text - Page 2 and signature.

Archive Record

Identifier: NRA-L-000010
Date: 1837-02-28
Original date: Bordeaux 28 février 1837
Type: Administrative notice
Language: French / fr
Sender: Clément-Hippolyte Le Blanc de Mauvesin / Leblanc de Mauvezin
Recipient: Prefect (unidentified; competent administrative authority to verify)
Places: Bordeaux, France / Unknown prefectural seat / likely competent authority for Port-Sainte-Marie/Mazières, to verify
Extent: 3 web-resolution images; address/exterior side and two pages of letter text
Citation: Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000010.

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Transcript and English translation

working scholarly aid

Address Panel

Original transcript

Monsieur le Préfet du Département
de Lot et Garonne
a Agen

Address Panel

English translation

To the Prefect of the Department
of Lot-et-Garonne
in Agen

Letter Text - Page 1

Original transcript

Monsieur le Préfet
Lorsque l'an dernier je demandai la concession d'un
morceau de terrain dans le cimetière de la succursale de Mazières,
commune du Port Ste Marie, je pensai que les charités & les largesses
devaient avoir des bornes. Plus tard j'eu la satisfaction de voir
que vous trouviez équitables celles que je m'étais imposées & la
lettre du 22 de ce mois que vous m'avez fait l'honneur de m'écrire
m'apprend que le ministre de l'intérieur lui même partage votre
opinion à cet égard.
Je dois donc regretter Monsieur le Préfet que la tutelle légale
de l'autorité supérieure aie cru devoir abandonner au conseil
municipal du Port Ste Marie la discrétion mal entendue de ses
intérêts, dans cette affaire; car fort de la justice de mes offres, je
ne suis pas plus disposé à adhérer à la nouvelle demande de
cinq cent francs que je ne l'ai fait lors qu'il s'agissait de mille francs.
J'ai donc l'honneur de vous informer Monsieur que si d'ici au
premier Avril prochain le conseil municipal du Port Ste Marie
mieux avisé n'accepte pas l'offre que j'ai faite & que je réitère ici de
me faire la concession demandée moyennant cent francs pour la
commune & deux cent francs pour les pauvres, je renonce absolument
à la satisfaction d'élever, sur sa tombe, un modeste & respectueux sou=
=venir de Mr de Laboyrie. Je me contenterai alors de profiter de la

Letter Text - Page 1

English translation

Monsieur le Préfet,
When last year I requested the concession of a piece of land in the cemetery of the succursale of Mazières, commune of Port-Sainte-Marie, I thought that charities and largesses ought to have limits. Later I had the satisfaction of seeing that you found equitable those which I had imposed upon myself, and the letter of the 22nd of this month which you did me the honor of writing to me informs me that the Minister of the Interior himself shares your opinion in this regard.
I must therefore regret, Monsieur le Préfet, that the legal tutelage of the superior authority believed it had to abandon to the municipal council of Port-Sainte-Marie the misguided discretion over its interests in this matter; for, confident in the justice of my offers, I am no more disposed to adhere to the new demand of five hundred francs than I was when it was a question of a thousand francs.
I therefore have the honor of informing you, Monsieur, that if between now and the first of April next, the municipal council of Port-Sainte-Marie, better advised, does not accept the offer I have made and which I reiterate here, to grant me the requested concession in exchange for one hundred francs for the commune and two hundred francs for the poor, I absolutely renounce the satisfaction of raising, upon his tomb, a modest and respectful memorial to Mr de Laboyrie. I shall then content myself with taking advantage of the

Letter Text - Page 2

Original transcript

faculté que me laisse le Décret sur les cimetières en y fesant placer
une pierre tumulaire qui pourra y rester dix ans.
C'est avec peine que je vois l'administration du Port Ste Marie repousser
une ressource, faible il est vrai, avec laquelle elle aurait pu subvenir à
la dépense obligée de reparation de la cloture du cimetière de sa
succursale de Mazières dont l'état de délabrement réclame des travaux
qui préservent les cendres des morts des profanations auxquelles elles
sont incessament exposées.
J'ai l'honneur d'être
Monsieur le Préfet
votre très humble &
très obéissant serviteur
Bordeaux 28 fevrier 1837    Le Blanc de Mauvesin

Letter Text - Page 2

English translation

faculty left to me by the Decree on cemeteries by having a tombstone placed there which may remain for ten years.
It is with sorrow that I see the administration of Port-Sainte-Marie reject a resource, small it is true, with which it could have provided for the obligatory expense of repairing the enclosure of the cemetery of its succursale of Mazières, the dilapidated state of which demands works that would preserve the ashes of the dead from the profanations to which they are incessantly exposed.
I have the honor to be,
Monsieur le Préfet,
your very humble and
very obedient servant,
Bordeaux, 28 February 1837    Le Blanc de Mauvesin

Notes

Terms: Succursale denotes a subsidiary parish church or chapel of ease. Tutelle légale refers to higher administrative supervision, and pierre tumulaire is translated as tombstone.

Discovery Terms

Historical correspondence
Private collection
Administrative notice
French language

Transcriptions and English translations are provided as working scholarly aids, not as replacements for the images of the original documents. Some readings may remain uncertain, especially where handwriting, spelling, damage, abbreviations, names or places are difficult.

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Historical context A burial request and a family connection 4 sources

A burial request and a family connection

This letter of 28 February 1837 asks the prefect of Lot-et-Garonne to intervene in a request for a separate plot in the cemetery of the subsidiary parish of Mazières, within the commune of Port-Sainte-Marie. The writer says that the commune first demanded 1,000 francs and later 500 francs. He instead offers 100 francs to the commune and 200 francs to the poor, so that a memorial to Mr de Laboyrie may be placed there.^[1]

People and relationships

The writer can be identified as Clément-Hippolyte Leblanc de Mauvesin. The available evidence strongly indicates that the deceased was François de Laboyrie (1755–1836), father of Marie-Joséphine de Laboyrie, who married Leblanc de Mauvesin in 1814. Mr de Laboyrie was therefore the writer's father-in-law. This identification is supported by a published study of the Laboyrie family and by the agreement of names, dates and family relationships; it has not yet been confirmed by a burial record from Mazières.^{[1, 3, 4]}

Legal setting

The decree of 23 Prairial Year XII (12 June 1804) provided the principal legal framework for French cemeteries. Article 10 allowed communes, where space permitted, to grant separate plots for family graves, vaults, monuments and tombstones. Article 11 linked such a concession to a gift for the poor or hospitals together with a separate sum for the commune. The two sums offered in the letter follow that same structure.^{[1, 2]}

The letter also refers to the possibility of placing a stone for ten years. That period does not follow from Article 12 of the decree, which concerned markers placed on an existing family or friend's concession. It may reflect local practice, another rule or the writer's interpretation.^{[1, 2]}

Evidence and limits

The family identification is strongly supported but remains one step short of direct confirmation by a burial record. The final municipal decision and any applicable local tariff have not been located. The sums of 1,000 and 500 francs are therefore reported as the writer's account of the commune's demands, not as independently verified or legally assessed charges.^{[1, 3, 4]}

Sources & evidence (4)

Primary source · manuscript Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000010, images 2–3 and reviewed transcript of the letter dated 28 February 1837. View the archive record Supports the request, place, sums and the reference to Mr de Laboyrie.
Primary source · legislation Décret du 23 prairial an XII (12 June 1804) relatif aux lieux d’inhumation, Articles 10–12. Read the cited text Supports the legal framework for cemetery concessions, gifts to the poor and the commune, and grave markers.
Scholarly study Pascale Tauzin, “La famille de Laboyrie. Histoire d’un patrimoine en Bazadais (1570–1836),” Les Cahiers du Bazadais 79 (1987), pp. 3, 5 and 10, including the genealogical table. Documents François de Laboyrie's death in 1836, Marie-Joséphine's parentage and her 1814 marriage to Clément-Hippolyte Leblanc de Mauvesin.
Archival finding aid Archives départementales de la Gironde, series 4 O, Bazas: administrative records concerning bequests by François de Laboyrie, 1837–1838. View the archival description Provides independent archival evidence for François de Laboyrie's posthumous charitable bequests in the same period.

Reviewed 2026-07-29 · Context version 1.0

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