1740 French Notarial Lease of the Water Mill at Étouy: Rent Paid in Money, Pullets and Eels
10187On offer is a four-page French notarial manuscript dated May 30, 1740, documenting the nine-year lease of the water-powered mill at Étouy, near Beauvais in the historic county of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis.
The lease was granted on behalf of Messire Nicolas Louis de Puithreau de Bailleul, knight and lord of Étouy and other places. He is identified as a former captain in the Agenois Infantry Regiment and a knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis. Founded by Louis XIV in 1693, the Order of Saint Louis recognized distinguished military officers in the service of the French Crown and was entirely separate from the Order of Malta.
Nicolas Louis acted as heir by benefit of inventory to his late father, Messire Claude François de Puithreau, formerly lord of Étouy. Also represented was the deceased lord’s widow, Dame Catherine [surname uncertain], dowager and usufructuary of the estate. Because she acted under legal guardianship, the document names her curator, Messire Charles Louis de Santereau, knight and lord of Quesnoy. Their interests were represented by André Le Carpentier, fiscal procurator of the estate.
The lessees were Pierre Montreuil, described as a garçon meunier, or journeyman miller, and his wife, Jeanne Desmorets. They accepted the property jointly for nine consecutive years, beginning on the feast of Saint John the Baptist in June 1740.
The leased property comprised the water mill at Étouy, used for producing oil and grinding grain into flour, together with its buildings, courtyard, garden, meadow, lands and dependencies. It had previously been occupied by Jean Louis Fournier and remained in the possession of his widow until the commencement of the new lease.
Montreuil and his wife were entitled to enjoy all the fruits and profits of the property while observing the established obligations governing the mill. These included responsibility for the millstones and payment of rent on the feast of Saint Rémy. Particularly evocative of the rural economy of eighteenth-century France, part of the rent was payable in kind and included twelve feathered pullets and two dozen eels.
The manuscript is written in a fine, closely spaced eighteenth-century French notarial hand and concludes with three flourished signatures. Its upper-left corner bears a blue stamp reading Archives du Département, establishing former custody within the French departmental archival system. Because the property was located at Étouy, an association with the departmental archives of the Oise is plausible, although the particular repository has not been conclusively identified.
Condition:
The manuscript consists of four pages formed from a single sheet measuring approximately 15 × 10 inches and folded to produce leaves measuring approximately 10 × 7.5 inches. The pages remain in good condition, with scattered staining and expected signs of age that do not interfere with legibility. A small excised area falls within a conventional clause concerning responsibility for the millstones; although the subject of the passage can be determined from the surrounding text, its complete original wording is no longer present.
Additional Notes
Author/Creator: Unidentified royal notaries of the Bailiwick and County of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis
Principal parties:
- Nicolas Louis de Puithreau de Bailleul — principal lessor and heir
- André Le Carpentier — fiscal procurator and representative
- Pierre Montreuil — lessee and miller
- Jeanne Desmorets — lessee and wife of Montreuil
Represented parties:
- Catherine [surname uncertain] — dowager and usufructuary
- Charles Louis de Santereau — her curator
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