Gabriel - Julien Ouvrard Gabriel - Julien Ouvrard was a French financier who was born in Moulins d ' Antières at Cugand ( Vendée ) on 11 October 1770 and who died in London in October 1846 . Revolution ( 1787 – 1800 ) . The son of a paper mill owner , Gabriel - Julien Ouvrard received a basic education , joining a trading house in Nantes in 1787 as an employee . By the end of the Ancien Régime , the trading house was associated with Bordeaux shipowners Baour et Balguerie . Under the Directoire , the trading house enriched itself considerably through colonial trade and military supplies . It then controlled three trading houses in Brest , Nantes and Orleans , the bank of Gamba , Gay et compagnie in Antwerp as well as having large shareholdings in three companies in Paris ( Girardot et compagnie , Rougemont et compagnie , Charlemagne et compagnie ) . It was also associated with three major suppliers : Vanlerberghe ( wheat ) , the Michel brothers ( military supplies ) and Carvillon des Tillières et Roy ( steel and wood ) . In 1794 he married the daughter of Jean Baptiste Tébaud , a wealthy Nantes merchant . ( His wife died in 1818 , having borne him three children . ) In September 1798 , Ouvrard won a six year contract for the provision of food to the Navy , representing a contract of 64 million francs . A few months later , he won a contract with the Spanish fleet stationed in Brest and then one to supply the army of Italy in 1799 . He rented the Château du Raincy near Paris , which he subsequently bought in 1806 . Around 1799 he took as his mistress , Madame Tallien , daughter of Count Francois de Cabbarrus . Her family connections would prove useful to Ouvrard . Ouvrard was arrested on 27 January 1800 on the orders of then First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte , but a review of his accounts and contracts showed no irregularities . Ouvrard was released . He helped supply the army for its Marengo campaign . The Napoleonic Era ( 1801 – 1815 ) . Ouvrard was one of the founders of the Compagnie des Négociants Réunis along with the banker ( 1764 – 1842 ) , Regent of the Bank of France . In exchange for a cash advance , the Company received valid obligations including monthly subsidies that Spain had to pay to France in implementing the Treaty of 22 June 1803 . In 1804 the Company had obtained from Spain its monopoly of trade with Spanish America . However the resumption of war between France and England slowed the movement of vessels . In 1805 the Bank of France faced collapse ; this potential financial disaster was averted on 27 January 1806 , when Ouvrard agreed to guarantee loans against the gold from the Spanish South America colonies . Ouvrard then entered a period of financial difficulties . He could not raise the acquisition price of the Château du Raincy . In 1809 , he was imprisoned in Sainte - Pélagie for unpaid debt and released three months later . Believing that only peace could bring maritime economic growth , he tried to negotiate a secret peace with England with the support of Louis Bonaparte and Joseph Fouché , which earned him three years in prison . Glory and ruin ( 1815 – 1846 ) . At the end of June 1815 , at the beginning of the Restoration , Ouvrard acquired ( under the name of his brother - in - law , G . J . Tébaud ) the pavilion of Jonchère located at Bougival , known later as " Château de la Jonchère " . He made many improvements to both the original building and its surroundings . In 1816 , he acquired the Château de la Chaussée , not far from the pavilion of Jonchère . Ouvrard played a large role in the economic recovery of France after the fall of the Empire . The Congress of Vienna in 1815 effectively forced France to pay 700 million francs to foreign powers , or 150 million per annum , to which had to be added the maintenance of 150 , 000 soldiers of the Allied armies that had occupied France for five years . In 1816 , crops collapsed and the coffers of the kingdom were empty . The payments were suspended . The Duc de Richelieu , Prime Minister of Louis XVIII , found himself in front of the Chamber of Deputies ( the famous Chambre introuvable ) but found its quarrels and divisions made his task impossible . On the advice of Ouvrard , Richelieu created a 100 million pension that filled the coffers of the state . The payments were made and the threat that hung over France was lifted . With this payment , the Prime Minister put forward the departure of foreign troops expected in 1820 . The French territory was released in 1818 , after the Congress of Aix - la - Chapelle . The Duc de Richelieu visited Ouvrard ' s property and canceled its debt to the Treasury . Proof of the prestige which Ouvrard enjoyed at the time can be seen from the fact that both Louis XVIII and the man who would become Charles X attended the wedding of Ouvrard ' s daughter Elisabeth to General de Rochechouart ( a nephew of Richlieu ) on 5 January 1822 . The following year , the purveyor financed the shipment of Spain , but was never repaid in spite of agreements signed with the Duke of Angoulême , who commanded the expedition . Placed in bankruptcy , he then lost his entire fortune , and was even imprisoned at the Conciergerie for corruption . Ouvrard was exonerated through the intervention of the Duke of Angoulême , but never recovered his fortune . He died in London in 1846 . He was survived by Dr Cabarrus , his illegitimate son by Madame Tallien , and his legitimate son , Julien Ouvrard .