De la Mare family in The Duchy of Lorraine and Bar
DE LAMARRES OF NORMANDY, NORTH FRANCE, LORRAINE AND GUADELOUPE, 1000 – 1820
EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK "A FAMILY THROUGH AGES" CHAPTER THREE – H. FELLS
The Clan de LA MARE is one of the oldest in Normandy. It takes its name from the Chateau de La Mare, which was built on piles on the shore of Lac Grande-Mare at St. Opportune-la Mare in Normandy. Several La Mare brothers joined in the invasion of England under William The Conqueror in 1066, were given land in various parts of Britain, and inter-married with the nobility. Several centuries later one of the DE LA MARES who had stayed in Normandy moved to the Verdun district of North France, probably in about 1530, and it is from him that the Fells family descended through:
CLAUDE (I) DE LA MARRE
Born about 1540, lived at Fresnes en Woevre, between Verdun and Metz.
CLAUDE (II) DE LA MARRE
Born about 1568, lived at Fresnes. Served as a Major in the service of Prince Eric of Lorraine, Bishop and Count of Verdun, who ennobled him under letters patent of 26 July 1602, ratified on 11th January, 1603, "in consideration of his merits & valour, and as a reward for services rendered; and we wish", say the letters patent, "that the said Claude de la Marre and his children born and to be born in loyal marriage, should enjoy all the honours, franchises, immunities, prerogatives, pre-eminences, which are customarily enjoyed by noble gentlemen of noble lines, etc": Crest: "He bare in a shield of azure, in a fess argent, charged with a rose of gules between two stars of the same, accompagnied in chief by two fleurs de lys, or, and in point, with a crescent upright of the shield." Ancient book of the peerage. Married Agathe de Rotton, 1613.
FRANÇOIS DE LA MARRE
Born 1614 (?) at Pierrepoint, a fief belonging to his family, in the provostship of Longwy. At the age of 15 years he joined the army. He took part in the siege of Dole, where he was taken prisoner while in a patrol reconnoitring the enemy, which was attacked and completely overwhelmed. François was ransomed and became an ensign in the Imperial under Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine and Barrois. He became successively Lieutenant, Captain-Lieutenant, Sergeant Major and finally Lieutenant Colonel commanding a regiment of his own name, the Regiment de la Marre. He reached this rank after being riddled with wounds. As a reward for his services and his bravery he was granted, at Brussels, further letters of nobility, dated 9th March, 1655, and ratified at Treves (Trier), 8th July, 1656. This honour created him a noble of the Duchies of Lorraine & Barrois, in addition to his French nobility in the County of Verdun. He married Marguerite de Bataille, from one of the leading noble families of Burgundy. They had four sons and two daughters:
François de la Marre´s sons distinguished themselves and, like their father, rose to high positions in the Imperial army.
PHILIPPE DE LA MARRE
1643 (?) – 1720 (?), eldest son of François, became Colonel Commandant of the Dragoons of Prince Eugene of Savoy, the celebrated Imperial soldier and statesman. Philippe became an Imperial Field Marshal Lieutenant and Major-General in the service of the Emperor Leopold I, and Governor of the town and fortress of Final in Upper Italy. He married Baroness Barbara von Pfeffershofen of Styria, of an ancient Bohemian family, and had one son, Eugene, who died young, already a Captain; and one daughter, Marie-Anne, who married (i) Baron von Gabelkhoven of Schloss Pichl in the Mürztal, Styria; and (ii) her cousin Antoine de la Marre q.v., younger son of Charles(below). They had a son, Ernest.
CHARLES DE LA MARRE,
1649 – 1733, second son of François and our ancestor, was at first Ensign in the Regiment of Belleroze; he rose to become Lieutenant Colonel commanding thr Regiment of Saint Croix, Imperial Cuirasseurs until 1696; he retired after 35 years services in favour of the Count of Mercy, on the recommendation of the Dowager Queen-Duchess Eleanora (of Pfalz-Neuberg), wife of the Emperor Leopold I, who in consideration of his retirement, "wished him to take up again the company that he had formerly in the Regiment of Bassonpierre, to enjoy it fully, without being expected to provide any service." She promised him, in addition, a proprty in Lorraine in proportion to his rank. After his return to Lorraine, when the Dowager Queen died in Innsbruck, Charles was commanded to return ther to bring home to Nancy the precious effects bequeathed by Queen Eleanora; two months later the emperor conferred on Charles de la Marre, by letters patent dated 8th July, 1698, the office of ‘Capitaine-Prévot" (Administrator) and forest Court Judge of the Town and Chateau of Arches (Vosges), which he administered by commission.On 18th July 1709 the Emperor Joseph decorated him with the title of Leutenant of his Light Horse; and on 11th August, 1712, Charles obtained the reversion of the office of ‘Governor’ of Arches for his son Leopold and, in case of his death, for Antoine and Claude-Joseph, his two brothers. The reversions having been suppressed, and all the offices made hereditary by a decree of 12th July, 1719, the said office was granted free, with right of succession, as much to Charles de la Marre as to his son Leopold; and on 15th December 1714, His Royal Highness gave him " the Seigneurie of the Chamber of Moulin, in High, middle, and lower justice, without any dues from his domain; which was granted for the future by inheritance to Lady Barbe de Hucher, his wife, daughter of Charles Hucher and of Anne Catherine Mortal, whom he had married on 7th September 1699." Charles died in May 1733, leaving three sons:
In 1713 Duke Leopold of Lorraine granted Philippe de la Marre and his brother Charles letters patent, confirming comprehensively their family`s "nobility, lustre and merits", and setting forth in particular the right to transmit the de la Marre, title and arms in the female, as well as the male line, a privilege confined to nobles of Lorraine and Barrois, which continued until the middle of the 18th century. Then, on 22nd November 1736, Duke Francis of Lorraine, Consort of the Empress Maria Theresa, and soon to become Emperor, granted letters patent at Pressburg, to be issued by his mother the regent at Nancy, by which Leopold de la Marre and his brother Antoine were promoted to the rank of Baron, in recognition of their past services to the Holy Roman Empire, and their ancient privileges.
BARON LEOPOLD DE LA MARRE, 1702-1783, was born in the Vosges in 1702, and died in 1783. He succeeded his father as Capitaine-Prévot & Gruyer (Governor) of Arches and Ramonchamos and was made Master of Fisheries & Forests at Epinal in the Vosges; he served as na infantry Captain in the Army of Duke Leopold of Lorraine. After being created Baron, as we have seen above, in November 1736, he received by patents of 20th October 1751, the high office of the "Lieutenant-General of the Bailiwick of Remiremont" , the southernmost province of Lorraine. Leopold married Barbe Bompart (Mother,Vannesson) on 21st April 1727, at Remiremont, and they had the following children:
BARON ANTOINE DE LA MARRE, 1704(?) –1767, Charles` second son, entered the Company of Gentlemen Cadets of Duke Leopold I, and then passed into the service of the Emperor, where he became a Captain at the age of 25 in the Regiment of Ligniville. As a result of a number of wounds inflicted on him in various battles he was forced to retire from the army. He retired to Pichl in Styria, of which castle he became Seigneur, and married his first cousin Marie-Anne de la Marre, widow of Baron Gabelkhoven. They had a son, Ernest. After Marie´s death Antoine married, (ii) Caroline von Alpmannshofen, who died in 1778. Baron Antoine died in 1767, and is buried in the Cathedral of Wiener Neustadt, where his tombstone bears the full de la Marre arms and supporters.
CLAUDE-JOSEPH, the third and youngest son of Charles de la Marre, joined the Church. He was at one time Canon of St Maxe de Bar.
BARON CHARLES-FRANÇOIS LEOPOLD DE LA MARRE, 1727-1781, Leopold´s eldest son, entered, at the age of 13, the Company of Gentlemen Cadets of the King of Poland and then served in the Hungarian army in the Regiment of the Puebla.
BARON (NICHOLAS) PHILIPPE DE LA MARRE , the Fells family direct ancestor, was born at Remiremont, 23rd January 1742, the fourth of Baron Leopold and Barbe´s sons, and the only one who is known to have had issue. After confirmation of his titles and prerogatives in letters patent of 29th October 1756, issued by King Stanislaus of Poland, Duke of Lorraine, at Luneville, Philippe was admitted to the Company of Gentlemen Cadets of Lorraine for three years´training.He then became a Captain in the Regiment d´Armagnac, and was posted to the Colony of Guadeloupe in the West Indies. While stationed there he married, in 1779(?), Victoire de La Garde, the only daughter of a family who lived there, probably sugar planters.They came from a noble French family, de la Garde, Marquis de Chambonas. Baron Philppe and Victoire were succeeded by an only daughter (our direct ancestor);
ANNE-VICTOIRE, BARONESS DE LA MARRE, in her own right, born at Basse Terre, Guadeloupe, 7th April 1780; died at Bouscat, Bordeaux, 1820, having married, 1799, a Scot, James Morison, q.v. Their children were: