Château Capbern: The Capbern Family
Before continuing with the story of Pierre Gasqueton and his wife and descendants, the Capbern family require some attention. Their story does not seem to be so well documented as the Gasqueton family tree, nevertheless something is known of them. Importantly, the evidence suggests that they have closer ties to Saint-Estèphe, and to the land, than the Gasqueton clan who evidently hail from Saint-Saveur.
This lineage begins with Martial Capbern, who was born on May 25th 1761 in Saint-Maixant, which on the right bank of the Garonne, on the opposite bank to Langon. During his life he was a traiteur, essentially a caterer, but in this pre-restaurant era it was more likely that Martial would serve his meals to visitors to his own home. He would have had recognition as a member of a traiteur’s guild, and indeed having been made traiteur in 1788 he became a maître traiteur in 1793. In 1797, however, with his name now cropping up in documents describing the auction of biens nationaux, the land and other assets of which France’s nobility had been relieved during the Revolution, he was an agriculteur. I think it very likely he acquired land in Saint-Estèphe at this time, and thus this is an important moment in the story of Château Capbern. It is perhaps noteworthy that when Martial died in August 1851 he was buried not in distant Saint-Saveur, like all the Gasqueton family members, nor was he interred in Saint-Maixant, the place of his birth. Martial was buried in Saint-Estèphe, and there he lies until this day.
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