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Origin and history

The Château de la Roche-Jacquelin, located in Daumeray (Maine-et-Loire), finds its origins in the 13th century as a fief of the Le Maire family, which kept it until the end of the 16th century. The bishop of Angers Guillaume Le Maire, born at the mansion, died there in 1317. A chapel was founded in 1503 and 1506 by Jean Le Maire and his wife Isabeau de Quatrebarbes, whose son, a prisoner in Pavie in 1525, marked the family history. In 1621, a descendant married René de Meaulne, and in 1670, Alexandre Le Maire, the last sieur of the lineage, was buried there.

In 1698, the estate was transferred to François Bachelier, the king's guardian, by donation from Jeanne Le Maire. His widow, Anne Bachelier, lives there with his daughter Anne, married to Gaspard-Claude Bommier. In 1733, the castle was sold to Charles Jacques Louis François Richer of Neuville, who rebuilt it. When he died, his sister, married to François Le Jeune de Créquy, inherited it. Their son, François Louis Marin, captain of cavalry and knight of Saint-Louis, died there in 1817.

The daughter of François Louis Marin, Adélaïde-Renée-Louise, married Eugene de la Bonninière de Beaumont in 1799. Their son Eugene still lived in the castle in 1878. Cécile's sister, born in 1817, married Albert de Blois de La Calande, whose descendants included senators from Maine-et-Loire, such as Georges-Aymar and Louis de Blois. The castle, which was listed as a historical monument in 1974, retains remarkable elements such as its facades, its wrought iron staircase and its decorated lounges.

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