Eugene Cheynet, head servant and coachman at Joviac Castle, became Vicomte Eugene Cheynet de Beaupre and the husband of his cousin, the Vicomtesse du Chaffaut.
Book Joviac, the Castle, the Family in 1994 [Back to contents]
In July 1992 the book Joviac, le chateau, la famille was published in an edition of 100 copies for the benefit of the association Les amis de Joviac, in Rochemaure[1].
This book relies on notes taken by Canon Baconnier, parish priest of Rochemaure, between 1907 and 1919, which were published in 1956 in three issues of La revue du Vivarais[2].
A new edition of the book, printed in 300 copies, was expanded and amended in July 1994 by Marc Cheynet de Beaupre and Daniel Bouix. The 1994 book reproduces the text of the 1992 edition while adding notes in italics.
The updates are marked as follows:
- (M.B.) Marc Cheynet de Beaupre
- (D.B.) Daniel Bouix
The genuine Page 110 Eugene Cheynet, who was neither a vicomte nor de Beaupre, could not have married the Vicomtesse du Chaffaut in London on June 26, 1896, because his wife, Marie Euphrasie Delhoste, whom he had married in 1871[3], was still alive and did not die until the following year, on July 7, 1897[4]. Her death record states that Eugene Cheynet was a servant. Page 111 L’Afrique, a mixed passenger and cargo ship belonging to the Compagnie Francaise des Chargeurs Reunis, did indeed sink on January 11, 1920 with Monsignor Jalabert on board, but near the Rochebonne shoals between the Ile de Re and Les Sables-d'Olonne. A memorial plaque to the shipwreck was placed in that seaside resort. The shipwreck therefore cannot have taken place in the Mediterranean. The account of the shipwreck is available online [5]. The association Les amis de Joviac[6] found the death record of Eugene Cheynet, dated November 7, 1917 in Besseges, in the Gard. He had therefore already been dead for more than two years in 1920, at the time of the shipwreck of L’Afrique. On December 2, 1922, he was reinterred in the Cheynet family tomb, in the cemetery above the Notre-Dame-des-Anges Chapel.
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The forged Here are the notes added to Canon Baconnier's version, in italics. Page 57 "Joviac Hilaire Family Then married Vicomte Jean Eugene Cheynet de Beaupre Page 110 "Having become a widow at 36, the Vicomtesse du Chaffaut [remarried at 53 in London on June 26, 1896 to her cousin, Jean Eugene Vicomte Cheynet de Beaupre, 1843-1920, administrator of the Credit Foncier, officer of the Legion of Honour, without issue. (M.B.)]" "Her great ambition was to be the providence of the poor and of parish works in Le Teil and Rochemaure. [With the help of the vicomte de Beaupre she devoted herself entirely to works of piety or charity.]" Page 111 "[Madame du Chaffaut, as she continued to be called, and the vicomte de Beaupre lived chiefly at Joviac and Granoux; both are present, together with a lady companion, on a postcard of the castle reproduced in this work.]" "[Vicomte Eugene Cheynet de Beaupre died in a shipwreck. He had generously contributed to the construction of the cathedral of Dakar, and it was during the voyage for its consecration that he met his death, together with Monsignor Jalabert, when the engines of the ship L’Afrique exploded in the Mediterranean.]" |
The Death Record of the Vicomtesse du Chaffaut Reappears as a Photocopy [Back to contents]
The genuine The death records of the Vicomtesse du Chaffaut dated April 16, 1907 were torn out of both the town hall register and the register kept by the court clerk's office.
Furthermore, the Nantes consular archives found no marriage certificate for Cheynet de Beaupre / Vicomtesse du Chaffaut in London on June 26, 1896. |
The forged
A certified true photocopy of the death record of the Vicomtesse du Chaffaut is used to support the theory of a marriage to Eugene Cheynet de Beaupre, but, as chance would have it, the original records have once again disappeared. On close examination of this photocopy, which we were able to hold briefly in our hands, one can see that the mention de Beaupre is written on a background of a different color. This document is unquestionably a forgery.
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In Memory of the Vicomtesse du Chaffaut, Whose Name Was Sullied Alongside Ours [Back to contents]
Notes and References
1. Website of Les amis de Joviac, list of publications
2. Website of La revue du Vivarais
3. Ardeche Departmental Archives, marriage record of Jean Eugene Cheynet, December 14, 1871
4. Ardeche Departmental Archives, death record of Marie Euphrasie Delhoste, July 7, 1897
5. Jean-Yves Le Lan, The Shipwreck of the L’Afrique, article of Thursday, November 7, 2013