Joseph de Puisaye
| Joseph de Puisaye | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 6 March 1755 Mortagne-au-Perche |
| Died | 13 September 1827 Hammersmith |
| Title | Comte de Puisaye |
| Spouse(s) | Louise Le Sesne Susanna Smithers |
Joseph-Geneviève, comte de Puisaye (6 March 1755 – 13 September 1827) was a minor French aristocrat who fought as a counter-revolutionary during the French Revolution, leading two unsuccessful invasions from England. He later led a group of French royalists to settle in Upper Canada, but returned to England after a few years, when that effort proved largely unsuccessful. He remained in England until his death in 1827.
De Puisaye was born in Mortagne-au-Perche, the fourth son of a French aristocratic family. His family intended for him to join a seminary, and sent him to the Collège de Laval at age nine, then the Collège de Sées and the Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice in Paris. The seminary's superior recommended against a religious vocation for Puisaye when he was seventeen, and he left the seminary. He joined the French Army in 1773 at age eighteen. Family connections through his maternal grandmother allowed Puisaye to obtain a commission as a second lieutenant in a cavalry regiment near the German border in February 1775. He was promoted to supernumerary captain in 1779 in a non-existent company. Unsatisfied with his military career, he returned to Mortagne-au-Perche in 1781 or 1782.
In order to obtain the Order of Saint-Louis, de Puisaye purchased a colonelcy and an honorary position in the King's guard. He married Louise Le Sesne, the sole heiress of the marquis de Ménilles, on 19 June 1788. From this marriage he obtained an estate in Pacy-sur-Eure, Normandy, and he spent his time there or in Paris. There he was involved in drafting the cahier de doléance for the nobility of Perche, and they sent him as their delegate to the Estates General in 1789.
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