Jacques-Louis de Bougrenet de La Tocnaye

(Translated from French Wikipedia 25/8/2024)

Jacques-Louis de Bougrenet de La Tocnaye, was born 25th November 1767 in Nantes, and died 4th October 1823 at Bouguenais, was a French soldier and traveller who was the companion in exile of Chateaubriand

Jacques de Latocnaye was born on 25th November 1767 in Nantes to an ancient family of minor nobility, of Vendéen origin and military tradition. The name Latocnaye is that of an area in Sainte-Marie de Pornic, and entered the family Bougrenet in 1574.

Initially an officer in Monsieur's Regiment, he fled the revolution and became an émigré in 1791. He enlisted in the Army of the Princes at Coblenz. After the disbanding of that army in the autumn of 1792, he left for London where he arrived in December 1792. There he met Chateaubriand. Soon tiring of his life without work or money, he went on a journey around England, then Scotland, Ireland, and finally Scandinavia.

Supplied with money and letters of recommendation to the gentry and clergy of the Established Church, he went entirely on foot, with very little baggage. He described these journeys in French, which he himself had printed and sold by subscription and to the bookshops. His works were successful and were soon translated into English and German.

He returned to France in 1801 and had himself removed from the list of "condemned émigrés" but did not support the Consulate, unlike Chateaubriand. He retired to his family in Thouaré and Luçon. His brother was killed fighting in the Army of the Republic. After the Restoration he was decorated as one of the Army of Emigrés. He did not return to active service to the State. His younger brother Alexandre-Charles was sub-prefect of Paimboeuf.