Municipal newsletter

Letter from Mr NILS EGIL GRUDE, published in the municipal bulletin of St-Gildas-de-Rhuys in 1996.et lettre d'Yvon MAUFFRET

SORE Skogveil 89, 5037 Solheimsviken Norway

Bergen, September 27, 1996

Madam, Sir,

I would like to send you a short document concerning sailors, men and women. ( ?), children of Saint-Gildas and the surrounding area, who experienced a sad story on the south coast of my country in the 19th century.

Through my family, I recently learned of the existence, in REVE, near STAVANGER, of what are called "the French graves". These are 5 graves of people who died during a shipwreck in 1853, off REVE, which also had a sea rescue station for a long time. I am therefore attaching the reference to the 5 Frenchmen as well as the commentary from the priest of KLEPP (the commune where REVE is located) hoping that this may be of interest to descendants, or to maritime history enthusiasts.

In addition, there are copies of what was written in the STAVANGER newspapers about the storm, the shipwrecks that night (there was also a boat from BERGEN, "De Tvende Brodre"), and the events that, at that time, followed the shipwrecks: burials, what to do with the wrecks, the auction of cargo, etc. My family, on my father's side, lives in REVE and has a long tradition as local (sea) pilots and crew members at the REVE lifeboat station. The family in REVE, and especially a cousin of my father who is very interested in local history, gave me all the information about these events that happened in 1853 in REVE.

The French graves are in the old church cemetery in Orre. In the church records (municipal documents) of the commune of Klepp, in the department of Rogaland, it is recorded that these five Frenchmen died on September 26, 1853, and were buried on September 30, 1853.

Captain Félix Le Biboul, aged 49 and a half, born on April 23, 1804, residing in St Gildas, department of Morbihan, union of Sarzeau, district of Vannes.

Cook (of ship) Vincent Marie Le Biboul, aged 12 , residing in St Gildas,

Sailor Jacques Magloire Madec, aged 48, born on july 3, 1805, residing in St Gildas.

Sailor Joachim Marie Le Douarin, aged 30 , born on september 7, 1823, residing in Sarzeau.

Cook (of ship) Jean-Marie Blancho, aged 15, born on september 10, 1838, residing in St Gildas.

In the church book, the priest made the following comments:- On September 26th at eleven thirty in the evening, the schooner "La Blanche Marguerite" was shipwrecked on the Jaeren Reef (Jaerens Rev) in a terrible storm. The schooner had just come from Rouen via Gothenborg (Gothenburg in Sweden) and had been unloaded at Grund fjord, 8 nautic miles from Bergen on the same day.- The captain and four members of his crew, including his 12-year-old son, were killed. The bodies of the captain and Le Douarin were found in the lifeboat. The other bodies were found some time later in the water. Only two men had escaped in the lifeboat. They were sailors Jean Vincent Gicquel and Louis Marie Le Guerann(ic), both living in St. Gildas.

End of letter from Mr NILS EGIL GRUDE

A la lecture de ce bulletin municipal, Yvon MAUFFRET (de Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys) a écrit à Nils Egil GRUDE, lettre datée du 4 octobre 1996.

Cette lettre a été retrouvée en Norvège (près de Nils GRUDE) par Jacques BOUCHER lors de son road-trip en août 2025:

"Monsieur,

Le dépositaire de « Ouest France » a eu l’excellente idée de me remettre le dossier concernant le naufrage de la « Blanche Marguerite » sur les côtes norvégiennes en 1853. Je suis écrivain et si je suis connu surtout comme Romancier pour la jeunesse, je me suis aussi penché sur l’histoire et la vie de la Presqu’île de Rhuys dont je suis originaire. Tous mes ancêtres étaient marins, maîtres de barque, Capitaines, (mon père l’était, et a fini sa carrière comme pilote de Lorient). Vous devinez avec quel intérêt j’ai pris connaissance de votre communication. J’ai un trisaïeul qui s’appelait LE BIBOUL et qui peut-être était apparenté au malheureux capitaine de la goëlette.

  - 1853, c’est la grande époque du cabotage local . Toutes les familles qui le peuvent arment un navire , le confient à l’un des leurs et cela va durer jusqu'en 1870, pour décroître et disparaître à la fin du siècle . Les naufrages ont été certainement nombreux, mais je n'avais jamais entendu parler de celui que vous mentionnez, d'où son grand intérêt. Il y a encore dans ce pays des Madec, des Blancho , des Guérannic !

J'ai l'intention de faire paraître un article dans la Presse locale, concernant ce naufrage. J'aurais aimé l'illustrer d'une photo ou d'une carte postale , représentant " Les tombes françaises ". Cela existe-il ,et si oui, serait-ce abuser de votre bonté , en vous demandant de m'en expédier un exemplaire ?

Merci en tout cas, de tout cœur.

Signé : Yvon MAUFFRET " 1927-2011