AS TIME GOES BY
THE LYNCH FAMILY
John Lynch of Galway, a distant descendant of Hugo de Lynch, companion of William the Conqueror, was born into a Catholic family established in Ireland since the twelfth century. At the end of the sixteenth century, following his king James II of England, he fled his country for France after the decisive battles of the Boyne and Aughrim were won by the Protestant William III, Prince of Orange.
Like many citizens of Galway driven from their homes, John Lynch moved to Bordeaux, a city somewhat similar to their own, with a bustling port and an important trading centre. He proved his worth early on, and quickly became a powerful and respected merchant.
In 1709 he married Guillemette Constant and became a French citizen the following year. Two sons, Thomas-Michel and Jean-Arthur and a daughter, Jeanne-Catherine came to bless this marriage.
In 1740, Thomas married Elisabeth Drouillard, daughter of Pierre Drouillard, a former knight, Treasurer of France and owner of the Bages estate since 1728. On the death of Pierre Drouillard in 1749, the Bages estate naturally fell to Elizabeth and Thomas Lynch and their six children.
Their second son, Jean-Baptiste, became without a doubt one of the most influential figures of the Lynch family in Bordeaux. First of all a lawyer, he was appointed by Louis XV in 1770, Counsellor to the Bordeaux Parliament before becoming president of the Second Chambre des Enquêtes (chamber handling inquests) to the same Parliament in 1783. Meanwhile, he received the Bages estate as a gift from his parents on the occasion of his marriage.
Imprisoned as a noble and wealthy landowner in 1793, Count of the French Empire in 1810, finally Peer of France during the reign of Louis XVIII, Jean-Baptiste was also a major figure in the history of Bordeaux: elected President of General Council of the Gironde in 1809, then mayor of Bordeaux under the Empire and ultimately honorary mayor of the city under the First Restoration.
Often absent from Bordeaux and absorbed in his public life, Count Jean-Baptiste Lynch was not able to supervise the operation of his Pauillac vineyards. The management of the property therefore devolved to his brother, Chevalier Michel Lynch, whose local position, as reported in contemporary documents, reflects the upheaval of those difficult years: a “Knight Esquire” in 1787, he became “Colonel of the National Guard Pauillac” in 1790, Active Citizen” in 1791, imprisoned in 1793, a simple “farmer” two years later, and finally President of the Canton of Pauillac in 1797. He retained the management of the Domaine de Bages until 1824, leaving behind him, like his brother, no heir.