Secrétariat d'Etat à la Marine. Correspondance à l'arrivée de la Martinique
Item
Country
FR
Name of institution (English)
National Overseas Archives
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
fra
Contact information: postal address
29 Chemin du Moulin de Testa, 13090 Aix-en-Provence
Contact information: phone number
0033 442933850
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
anom.aix@culture.gouv.fr
Reference number
COL C8
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Secretary of State of the Navy: Correspondence from Martinique
Title (official language of the state)
Secrétariat d'Etat à la Marine. Correspondance à l'arrivée de la Martinique
Language of title
fra
Creator / accumulator
Secrétariat d'Etat à la Marine
Date(s)
1635/1815
Language(s)
fra
Extent
12.1 linear metres (147 storage units)
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
This subseries is part of the Series C of the Colonial Archives and consists of the official correspondence received by the Secrétariat d'Etat à la Marine from Martinique and other French establishments in the Caribbean Sea under the jurisdiction of the Governor General and the Intendant of the Islands, resident in this island. The records date back to 1663, but the items before 1674 are rare due to the loss of the West India Company archives. This subseries contains reports and memoranda addressed to the Secretary of State for the Marine by the local authorities of the island: governors-general, intendants, private governors, various officers, king's lieutenants, majors, captains, magistrates, etc. In addition to these documents, there are a few other items, namely documents attached to the administrators' reports, extracts from reports written for the minister by the offices, and elements of lost letters and annotations in the hand of either the minister or the first clerks. The subseries also includes financial records, letters exchanged between local authorities or between them and governors of foreign colonies, notarial deeds, and a few incomplete economic statistics, among other diverse documents. From 1789 onwards, the nature of the documents changed significantly, including deliberations of committees and assemblies, addresses and proclamations, minutes of various meetings, internal correspondence exchanged between old and new authorities or between the factions that were tearing the island apart, legislative texts, numerous printed documents and a few scattered copies of the Gazette de la Martinique.
The subseries includes numerous records regarding the presence of Jews in Martinique and, in particular, controversies around their status and the acceptance of their settlement on the island. Some examples are the following:
COL C8 B 1 N° 13: Minute of a letter from Colbert to Alexandre de Prouville-Tracy, governor-general of the French Antilles, addressing, among other matters, the legal status of Huguenots and Jews in Martinique. September 22, 1664.
COL C8 B 19 N° 8: Ordinance of Jean-Charles Baas-Castelmore, governor-general, on the exercise of the Jewish and Reformed religions in the island, among other subjects. August 1, 1669.
COL C8 A 1 F° 42: Letter from Baas-Castelmore, referring to a circumstance when the Jews of Martinique refused to hear a sermon by the Jacobin Dubois. March 22, 1670.
COL C8 B 1 N° 51: Count of Blénac's "Mémoire touchant les huguenots et les juifs de l'Amérique" (Memorial on the Huguenots and the Jews of America). 1679.
COL C8 A 3 F° 38: Letter from Count of Blénac, governor-general, in which, among other matters, he requests a settlement for Jews. November 19, 1680.
COL C8 B 1 N° 58: Letter from Jean Baptiste Patouler, intendant, that addresses proposals in favour of the settlement of Jews on the island. December 26, 1680.
COL C8 B 1 N° 59: Petition of Jerónimo Nunes da Costa, Portuguese agent in Holland, to Colbert de Croissy, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in favour of the Jews of Martinique. Amsterdam, January 21, 1681.
COL C8 A 3 F° 97: Opinions of Count of Blénac and Jean Baptiste Patoulet on council meetings about several matters, including the status of the Jews. December 1681.
COL C8 B 1 N° 70: Memorial against the Jews of Martinique given to Count of Blénac by the Jesuits of the island. 1683.
COL C8 A 5 F° 389: Letter from Dumaitz de Goimpy, intendant, in which he proposes to allow the return of Jews to the French colonies. November 9, 1689.
COL C8 A 8 F° 197: Dumaitz de Goimpy's letter on the settlement of Jews in French islands, among other matters. August 26, 1694.
COL C8 A 9 F° 2: Excerpts from the dispatches of Blénac and Dumaitz, including one that refers to Jewish merchants from Bordeaux who went to French American islands. 1695.
COL C8 A 11 F° 65: Letter from Count of Amblimont, governor-general, on Jews from Barbados that moved to Martinique. September 27, 1699.
COL C8 A 50 F° 86: Observations on the estate of the Jewish merchant Abraham Gradis, who died in Martinique in March 1738, the status of the Portuguese Jews of Bordeaux and of those who settled in the Windward Islands, and request for instructions concerning the right to recognise or not the Jews of the islands. August 12, 1739.
COL C8 A 51 F° 194: Letter from Marquis of Champigny de Noroy, governor-general of the Windward Islands, and César Marie de La Croix, Intendant of the Windward Islands, regarding the estate of Abraham Gradis. June 24, 1740.
COL C8 A 72 F° 323: Statement of money to be provided by David Gradis et fils for the king's service in Martinique and Guadeloupe in 1773.
COL C8 A 95 F° 140: Letter from David Gradis, president of the colonial owners residing in Bordeaux, asking the minister to send the king an address relating to the diseases afflicting Martinique. December 18, 1790.
The subseries includes numerous records regarding the presence of Jews in Martinique and, in particular, controversies around their status and the acceptance of their settlement on the island. Some examples are the following:
COL C8 B 1 N° 13: Minute of a letter from Colbert to Alexandre de Prouville-Tracy, governor-general of the French Antilles, addressing, among other matters, the legal status of Huguenots and Jews in Martinique. September 22, 1664.
COL C8 B 19 N° 8: Ordinance of Jean-Charles Baas-Castelmore, governor-general, on the exercise of the Jewish and Reformed religions in the island, among other subjects. August 1, 1669.
COL C8 A 1 F° 42: Letter from Baas-Castelmore, referring to a circumstance when the Jews of Martinique refused to hear a sermon by the Jacobin Dubois. March 22, 1670.
COL C8 B 1 N° 51: Count of Blénac's "Mémoire touchant les huguenots et les juifs de l'Amérique" (Memorial on the Huguenots and the Jews of America). 1679.
COL C8 A 3 F° 38: Letter from Count of Blénac, governor-general, in which, among other matters, he requests a settlement for Jews. November 19, 1680.
COL C8 B 1 N° 58: Letter from Jean Baptiste Patouler, intendant, that addresses proposals in favour of the settlement of Jews on the island. December 26, 1680.
COL C8 B 1 N° 59: Petition of Jerónimo Nunes da Costa, Portuguese agent in Holland, to Colbert de Croissy, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in favour of the Jews of Martinique. Amsterdam, January 21, 1681.
COL C8 A 3 F° 97: Opinions of Count of Blénac and Jean Baptiste Patoulet on council meetings about several matters, including the status of the Jews. December 1681.
COL C8 B 1 N° 70: Memorial against the Jews of Martinique given to Count of Blénac by the Jesuits of the island. 1683.
COL C8 A 5 F° 389: Letter from Dumaitz de Goimpy, intendant, in which he proposes to allow the return of Jews to the French colonies. November 9, 1689.
COL C8 A 8 F° 197: Dumaitz de Goimpy's letter on the settlement of Jews in French islands, among other matters. August 26, 1694.
COL C8 A 9 F° 2: Excerpts from the dispatches of Blénac and Dumaitz, including one that refers to Jewish merchants from Bordeaux who went to French American islands. 1695.
COL C8 A 11 F° 65: Letter from Count of Amblimont, governor-general, on Jews from Barbados that moved to Martinique. September 27, 1699.
COL C8 A 50 F° 86: Observations on the estate of the Jewish merchant Abraham Gradis, who died in Martinique in March 1738, the status of the Portuguese Jews of Bordeaux and of those who settled in the Windward Islands, and request for instructions concerning the right to recognise or not the Jews of the islands. August 12, 1739.
COL C8 A 51 F° 194: Letter from Marquis of Champigny de Noroy, governor-general of the Windward Islands, and César Marie de La Croix, Intendant of the Windward Islands, regarding the estate of Abraham Gradis. June 24, 1740.
COL C8 A 72 F° 323: Statement of money to be provided by David Gradis et fils for the king's service in Martinique and Guadeloupe in 1773.
COL C8 A 95 F° 140: Letter from David Gradis, president of the colonial owners residing in Bordeaux, asking the minister to send the king an address relating to the diseases afflicting Martinique. December 18, 1790.
Archival history
The origins of the Navy archives are still little known. A historical note written in 1879 by Octave de Branges, then assistant curator of the Archives, alleged that Colbert created the Dépôt de la Marine in 1680, but there is no documentary evidence to support this assumption. According to tradition, the archives were originally located in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. In 1699, Jérôme de Pontchartrain (1674-1747), the Navy minister, installed the Dépôt de la Marine in a building in Place des Victories, in Paris. It was at this time that the Dépôt de la Marine started operating more systematically.
Pierre Clairambault must be considered the founder and first organiser of the archives. In 1699, he found the archives completely disorganised, and several pieces were missing. The following years were dedicated to the organisation and inventorying of the fonds. From 1740, by the hand of the archivist François-Maurice Lafîllard, the archives suffered a radical reclassification. The reorganisation of the documents followed a "blind" alphabetical order, with no attention to subjects, provenances, or matters, which was later the target of strong criticism. His successor, Laurent Truguet, tried to reverse Lafîllard's work and, in 1755, proposed a reorganisation by dividing the archives into ten divisions or series. A part of this new classification was indeed adopted, and it is still reflected in some series to the present.
At the beginning of 1763, the Archives de la Marine left Paris and went to Versailles to occupy the Hôtel de la Guerre et de la Marine building. The new archivist, Jean-Charles Horque d'Hamecourt, respected the classification adopted by Truguet, merely adding an additional division for the papers received from the Bureau des Fonds.
In 1781, the Archives de la Marine gained a new service, the Dépôt des chartes de las colonies, organised by an edict of June 1776. This institution was intended to preserve in France a duplicate of all public papers established in the colonies, such as parish records, notarial minutes, population census, etc.
The transfer of the Ministry of the Navy after the Revolution was not followed by the archives, which remained in Versailles. However, the archives' organisation and management were modified at the end of 1791, with a division into two offices: one for the Navy, headed by Antoine Villet, and the other for the Colonies, headed by Claude Deluzines.
In 1812, Nicolas- Charles Stévenot (1750-1822) replaced Deluzines and was responsible for a new classification of both the Navy and the Colonial Archives: the first divided into ten series (Personnel; Matériel; Fonds; Contentieux; Campagnes; Missions particulières; Invalides et prisonniers; Ordonnances et arrêts; Mémoires généraux; and Objets
divers), and the second into nine series (Personnel; Matériel; Fonds; Campagnes; Concessions, commerce et domaine; Ordonnances et arrêts; Contentieux; Mémoires généraux; Colonies en général; and Objets divers). The Dépôt des papiers publics des Colonies continued to be a particular fonds.
The archives returned to Paris in 1837 and were housed in a building in the courtyard of the rue Royale. The Commission des Archives, established in 1849, was responsible for designing a new method for classifying collections. Following the recommendations of this commission, the documents were divided into seven categories corresponding to the main divisions of the Département de la Marine et des Colonies: Personnel (currently corresponding to C and CC), Matériel (D and DD), Colonies, Comptabilité (E and EE), Invalides (F and FF), Service général (B and BB), and Dépôt des papiers publics des Colonies.
The Second Empire (1852-70) was an extremely active period in which the old series and the first part of the modern series gradually took on the organisation that is still in use at present. The Correspondance à l'arrivée de la Martinique series was classified and bound during this period. However, the lack of rigour and knowledge of colonial history caused some inconsistencies in its organisation.
Pierre Clairambault must be considered the founder and first organiser of the archives. In 1699, he found the archives completely disorganised, and several pieces were missing. The following years were dedicated to the organisation and inventorying of the fonds. From 1740, by the hand of the archivist François-Maurice Lafîllard, the archives suffered a radical reclassification. The reorganisation of the documents followed a "blind" alphabetical order, with no attention to subjects, provenances, or matters, which was later the target of strong criticism. His successor, Laurent Truguet, tried to reverse Lafîllard's work and, in 1755, proposed a reorganisation by dividing the archives into ten divisions or series. A part of this new classification was indeed adopted, and it is still reflected in some series to the present.
At the beginning of 1763, the Archives de la Marine left Paris and went to Versailles to occupy the Hôtel de la Guerre et de la Marine building. The new archivist, Jean-Charles Horque d'Hamecourt, respected the classification adopted by Truguet, merely adding an additional division for the papers received from the Bureau des Fonds.
In 1781, the Archives de la Marine gained a new service, the Dépôt des chartes de las colonies, organised by an edict of June 1776. This institution was intended to preserve in France a duplicate of all public papers established in the colonies, such as parish records, notarial minutes, population census, etc.
The transfer of the Ministry of the Navy after the Revolution was not followed by the archives, which remained in Versailles. However, the archives' organisation and management were modified at the end of 1791, with a division into two offices: one for the Navy, headed by Antoine Villet, and the other for the Colonies, headed by Claude Deluzines.
In 1812, Nicolas- Charles Stévenot (1750-1822) replaced Deluzines and was responsible for a new classification of both the Navy and the Colonial Archives: the first divided into ten series (Personnel; Matériel; Fonds; Contentieux; Campagnes; Missions particulières; Invalides et prisonniers; Ordonnances et arrêts; Mémoires généraux; and Objets
divers), and the second into nine series (Personnel; Matériel; Fonds; Campagnes; Concessions, commerce et domaine; Ordonnances et arrêts; Contentieux; Mémoires généraux; Colonies en général; and Objets divers). The Dépôt des papiers publics des Colonies continued to be a particular fonds.
The archives returned to Paris in 1837 and were housed in a building in the courtyard of the rue Royale. The Commission des Archives, established in 1849, was responsible for designing a new method for classifying collections. Following the recommendations of this commission, the documents were divided into seven categories corresponding to the main divisions of the Département de la Marine et des Colonies: Personnel (currently corresponding to C and CC), Matériel (D and DD), Colonies, Comptabilité (E and EE), Invalides (F and FF), Service général (B and BB), and Dépôt des papiers publics des Colonies.
The Second Empire (1852-70) was an extremely active period in which the old series and the first part of the modern series gradually took on the organisation that is still in use at present. The Correspondance à l'arrivée de la Martinique series was classified and bound during this period. However, the lack of rigour and knowledge of colonial history caused some inconsistencies in its organisation.
Administrative / Biographical history
The period from the 17th century to 1815 is usually referred to as the "premier empire colonial" (first colonial empire). France settled in Canada, the West Indies, French Guiana, the Regency of Algiers, Saint-Louis du Sénégal, Gorée, and Rufisque. In the Indian Ocean, it gained a foothold in Madagascar (Fort-Dauphin), in the Ile de France, and in the Ile Bourbon. In India, the French colonial empire established itself in Surat, in Pondicherry in 1673, and then in the whole Deccan peninsula. Its apogee was under the reign of Louis XV. The European wars affected the colonial empires. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 marked the first collapse of France, which lost Canada and all the settlements in Senegal except Gorée, and kept only five trading posts in India. However, France retained Martinique, Guadeloupe, the occupied part of Santo Domingo and Saint Lucia, as well as French Guiana. The Napoleonic period saw the liquidation of the Colonial Empire. France recovered a few shreds of its former possessions under the Treaties of Paris (1814-15). It was not until 1830 that the French Empire took off again.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The records are arranged chronologically by sender/producer and, at a lower level, by type of document.
Finding aids
Finding aids available in the archive:
Taillemite, Etienne. 1967-71. "Inventaire de la série Colonie C8 A", vol. 1 (units 1-55); vol. 2 (units 56-121)
Taillemite, Etienne, Odile Krakovitch, and Michèle Bimbenet. 1984. "Inventaire de la série Colonie C8 Martinique (articles Colonies C8 B 1 à 27 et index)".
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2023
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