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 had closer ties to St Estèphe, and to the land, than the Gasqueton clan who hailed from St-Saveur.
This lineage begins with Martial Capbern, who was born on May 25th 1761 in St-Maixant, 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 St 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 St-Saveur, like all the Gasqueton family members, nor was he interred in St-Maixant, the place of his birth. Martial was buried in St Estèphe, and there he lies until this day.
Martial Capbern had married, on August 4th 1788, a young woman from Saint-Maixant named Marie Darribere Rivière, and together they had a daughter named Marguerite Julie Capbern (born 1791). Born in Bordeaux, Marguerite was married in 1822 to the aforementioned Pierre Gasqueton. The wedding took place in St Estèphe, suggesting that the Capbern family were settled here by this time.
The Capbern-Gasquetons
It is certain that by the time the 19th century drew to a close the Capbern-Gasqueton family were tending vines on their lands in St Estèphe. Exactly when viticulture commenced I am not certain, but I do know that Pierre and Marguerite’s son Henri-Martial Capbern-Gasqueton was described as a viticulteur. He had married Mathilde Marguerite Figerou and they had a son, Pierre Jean Charles Georges Capbern-Gasqueton (born 1857), thankfully more commonly known as Georges. Georges Capbern-Gasqueton, who assumed control after Henri-Martial’s demise in 1888, is not new to these pages, as he is already well known for his association with another famous St Estèphe château.
