Joseph de Villèle

== Youth ==

== Youth ==

He was born in [[Toulouse]], France and brought up to go into the navy. He joined the "Bayonnaise" at [[Brest, France|Brest]] in July 1788. He served in the [[West Indies|West]] and [[East Indies]]. Arrested in the Isle of Bourbon (now [[Réunion]]) under the [[Reign of Terror|Terror]], he was freed by the [[Thermidorian Reaction]] (July 1794). In 1796 he helped oust [[René-Gaston Baco de la Chapelle|Baco]] and [[Étienne-Laurent-Pierre Burnel|Burnel]], who had come to the island to enforce the [[Law of 4 February 1794|1794 abolition of slavery]]. He acquired a plantation and sixty slaves, and in 1799 he married the daughter of M. Desbassyns de Richemont, whose estates he had managed. He served in the Colonial Assembly from 1799-1803.<ref>{{cite web|website=portail-esclavage-reunion.fr|title=Le séjour de Joseph de Villèle aux Mascareignes (1791-1807) |url=https://www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr/documentaires/l-habitation-desbassayns/la-famille-desbassayns/le-sejour-de-joseph-de-villele-aux-mascareignes-1791-1807/ }}</ref>

Joseph de Villèle was born in [[Toulouse]], France and brought up to go into the navy. He joined the "Bayonnaise" at [[Brest, France|Brest]] in July 1788. He served in the [[West Indies|West]] and [[East Indies]]. Arrested in the Isle of Bourbon (now [[Réunion]]) under the [[Reign of Terror|Terror]], he was freed by the [[Thermidorian Reaction]] (July 1794). In 1796 he helped oust [[René-Gaston Baco de la Chapelle|Baco]] and [[Étienne-Laurent-Pierre Burnel|Burnel]], who had come to the island to enforce the [[Law of 4 February 1794|1794 abolition of slavery]]. He acquired a plantation and sixty slaves, and in 1799 he married the daughter of M. Desbassyns de Richemont, whose estates he had managed. He served in the Colonial Assembly from 1799-1803.<ref>{{cite web|website=portail-esclavage-reunion.fr|title=Le séjour de Joseph de Villèle aux Mascareignes (1791-1807) |url=https://www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr/documentaires/l-habitation-desbassayns/la-famille-desbassayns/le-sejour-de-joseph-de-villele-aux-mascareignes-1791-1807/ }}</ref>

The arrival of General [[Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen|Decaen]], appointed by [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] in 1802, restored security to the island, and five years later Villèle, who had now accumulated a large fortune, returned to France. He was mayor of his commune, and a member of the council of the [[Haute-Garonne]] under the Empire.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Villèle, Jean Baptiste Guillaume Marie Anne Séraphin, Comte de |volume=28 |pages=79–80 |inline=1}}</ref>

The arrival of General [[Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen|Decaen]], appointed by [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] in 1802, restored security to the island, and five years later Villèle, who had now accumulated a large fortune, returned to France. He was mayor of his commune, and a member of the council of the [[Haute-Garonne]] under the Empire.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Villèle, Jean Baptiste Guillaume Marie Anne Séraphin, Comte de |volume=28 |pages=79–80 |inline=1}}</ref>