La Demeure Saint Antoine
La Demeure Saint Antoine
Entering the World of Edmond de Chazal
Carriages arrived late into the night, making their way along the estate roads as guests approached a house glowing with candlelight. From the verandahs came music and voices, footsteps, the rustle of silk dresses, laughter, instruments being tuned and the rhythm of dances that might continue until dawn.
The house at Saint Antoine was alive with activity, warmth and welcome: a plantation house at the heart of a substantial sugar estate. At the centre of this world stood Edmond de Chazal.
Planter, father, host, innovator, humanitarian and tireless worker, Edmond was a man of extraordinary energy. On 18 November 1835, at the age of twenty-six, he acquired several plantation properties in the north-east of Mauritius, in the district of Rivière du Rempart, west of Île d’Ambre. The property included a wooden house, sugarcane fields, a mill and a factory. He named it Saint Antoine in memory of his mother, Laurence Rivalz de Saint Antoine. Edmond did more than acquire land. He transformed the estate into something greater.
At his side was Marguerite Claire de Chazal, the quiet strength of the household. Mother of a large family, generous hostess and discreet source of support to those facing hardship, Claire brought warmth and resilience to Edmond’s vision. In time, she would also save Saint Antoine from being lost.
Together, Edmond and Claire shaped not only an estate, but a way of life. Saint Antoine became a home defined by hospitality, work, family, faith and memory.
A Living Estate, a Family World
Saint Antoine was both a family home and a working sugar estate.
Under Edmond, the property gradually expanded. The house belonged to a much wider world of cane fields, workers, carts, mills, gardens and kitchens. The estate was constantly in motion: cane had to be planted, cut, transported and processed; water had to be managed; machinery improved; and every part of the property followed the rhythm of production.
Over the years, Edmond extended the estate. In 1849, he acquired the neighbouring sugar property of Petit Village, whose steam engine was soon moved to the main factory. Other lands and estates followed, including Moulin, Belmont and Poudre d’Or, opposite Île d’Ambre. Edmond installed one of the first large boilers used to reduce cane syrup and improve the quality of sugar. He was also the first planter in Mauritius to introduce an irrigation system, an ambitious attempt to improve cultivation. Edmond never shied away from hard work. If something could be built, improved, attempted or organised, he set about doing it.
La Demeure Saint Antoine was therefore never simply an elegant house set apart from the world. It was the living heart of an estate that was agricultural, industrial and deeply rooted in family life.
The Art of Hospitality
If Edmond shaped Saint Antoine through his work, it was through hospitality that he also gave it its soul.
The estate became a gathering place. Family, friends, neighbours, travellers and visitors were welcomed with warmth and generosity. Dinners, lunches, musical evenings, picnics, balls, outings and large family celebrations set the social rhythm of the house. Its verandahs, drawing rooms, dining room and gardens seemed made for entertaining. One table alone could seat fifty people, a detail that almost perfectly captures the spirit of the place.
To celebrate Edmond’s birthday, on the feast day of Saint Edmund, a grand ball would be held, sometimes bringing together nearly two hundred guests. Carriages arrived from every direction. The house was dressed with tropical flowers and foliage, and its rooms were lit by candles. Dancing continued late into the night, while supper was served at midnight amid silverware, glassware, fine food and wine.
This was hospitality in its fullest sense: not simply entertaining, but creating an atmosphere in which everyone felt welcomed, honoured and included in the life of the house.
A phrase preserved in the archives beautifully captures Edmond’s generosity:
“Although he feasted all the great, he ne’er forgot the small.”
He knew how to receive governors, officials and distinguished guests with ceremony, yet he was also remembered for his kindness to those in difficulty. Shipwrecked sailors, travellers in distress and people in need all found shelter and help at Saint Antoine. Hospitality was not simply about grandeur. It was also about care, refuge and generosity.
The Community Around Saint Antoine
The history of La Demeure Saint Antoine also belongs to the many people who lived and worked on the estate. Like many Mauritian properties in the nineteenth century, it existed within the complex and painful realities of the colonial plantation system. Its history runs through slavery, emancipation, apprenticeship and the labour systems that subsequently shaped Mauritius.
This part of the story must be approached with honesty. Edmond lived within the world of his time, but he was also recognised for the care he showed towards those under his responsibility. He provided housing, supported a clinic and established a school for workers’ children, supplying it with books and equipment at his own expense.
Visitors of the period also remarked on the attention given to the estate’s housing. Most of the plantation homes were described as being built of stone, well ventilated, clean and carefully maintained. Saint Antoine was managed not merely as a productive estate, but as a living community about which Edmond cared deeply.
After the apprenticeship period that followed emancipation, he is said to have gathered formerly enslaved workers and offered them a choice: to remain on the estate and work for wages, or to go their own way. Those who chose to stay were given land on which to build their homes and live rent-free until they were able to support themselves.
Among the human stories associated with the estate is that of Madam’ Azore, a formerly enslaved woman who became the leader of a group of workers connected to Edmond’s estate. A village later associated with her name became known as Madamazor.
Her story reminds us that history is not carried only in family portraits, estates and the names of their owners. It also lives in village names, local memory and the lives of those who built communities around the land. A meaningful account of heritage must make room for these voices too.
Faith, Conscience and Responsibility
Edmond’s sense of duty was also shaped by his faith.
Born and raised a Catholic, he later turned to the Swedenborgian New Church, drawn to its ideas of charity, conscience and spiritual independence. It was not a decision he took lightly. Edmond had been deeply troubled by what he saw as a lack of charity within established churches, particularly the refusal to bury people of colour. For him, faith could not be separated from humanity. A religious doctrine that forgot compassion had lost its meaning.
This conviction helps explain much of what he did at Saint Antoine. His concern for those who lived and worked on the estate was not only practical, but moral. It formed part of a wider sense of responsibility: the belief that duty extended beyond both family and property.
His choices were not without controversy. His change of faith caused tensions in Mauritian society and even within parts of his own family. Yet it also reveals something essential about his character. Edmond was a man of conviction. Whether in agriculture, family life, hospitality or belief, he acted according to his principles, even when doing so came at a personal cost.
Edmond, a Family Man
Saint Antoine was also a house full of children. Edmond and Claire had a large family. Claire went through many pregnancies; sixteen children were born, twelve of whom reached adulthood. The estate was therefore not only a place for guests and gatherings, but also a place of lessons, games, discipline, music, prayer and childhood.
Edmond could be strict and authoritative, but he took a close interest in raising his children. Their education, character and values mattered deeply to him.
They were taught languages, literature, music, art, mathematics, philosophy, singing, fencing and practical skills. The boys attended the Royal College before continuing their education abroad, while the girls and younger children were taught at home by tutors.
His relationship with his children, however, was far from purely formal. He played billiards, chess and cards with them. He went hunting and swimming with them, discussed ideas and valued their opinions.
For Edmond, education did not end in the classroom. His eldest son, Evenor, was gradually introduced to the practical workings of Saint Antoine. He learned about the sugar factory, the storehouse, the daily tasks of the plantation and the rhythm of production. Evenor’s education also extended beyond the estate. Travels in Europe, time spent in London and contact with intellectual and religious circles broadened his understanding of the world.
Yet Evenor left Saint Antoine and settled at Mon Rocher, another family property. He wanted to prove himself independently. The future of Saint Antoine passed to other heirs before Régis took it in hand with determination.
The prayer Edmond wrote for his children reveals the moral world he hoped to pass on to them: faith, duty, humility, discipline and charity. For Edmond, an inheritance was not simply land or a name. It was a responsibility. In this sense, he did not merely build an estate. He helped shape generations.
Marguerite Claire: The Quiet Strength of Saint Antoine
Marguerite Claire Rouillard married Edmond and, over time, became the guiding force of an immense household. Where Edmond brought ambition and authority, Claire brought patience, gentleness and quiet endurance. She was a mother, hostess, organiser and protector. She welcomed guests, raised a large family, supported her husband and offered discreet help to those around her.
One of the most touching aspects of her character was her quiet generosity. Women in difficult circumstances would visit her with embroidery or sewing, under the guise of a social call. Claire would buy their work, offering support without wounding their dignity.
This small detail says much about her. Her kindness was never ostentatious. It was thoughtful. Claire understood that generosity was not simply about giving, but about giving in a way that allowed others to retain their dignity. If Edmond gave Saint Antoine its strength, Claire gave it its grace.
The Woman Who Saved the Estate
There came a time when the Saint Antoine estate was almost lost.
In the 1870s, Edmond faced severe financial difficulties. His irrigation system had been costly and had not succeeded as he had hoped. Drought, disease, pests attacking the sugarcane and malaria all placed the estate under immense pressure. Debts mounted, and the future of the property was threatened.
It was then that Claire showed remarkable strength. She secured legal protection for her own assets and, when Edmond’s possessions were sold to repay his creditors, she used her resources to buy back Saint Antoine. It was one of the most dramatic moments in the estate’s history.
Claire was far more than the gentle wife beside a prominent man. She became the woman who preserved the family home at its most vulnerable moment. Through her courage and practical intelligence, Saint Antoine remained in the family.
Edmond’s legacy was also Claire’s achievement.
A Man Remembered
After the crisis, Edmond withdrew neither from life nor from work. He returned to the estate with renewed determination, supported by Claire and surrounded by the loving concern of his children. The plantation recovered. Better years followed. Before his death, he was able to settle his remaining debts.
Edmond died suddenly on 12 February 1879. He was sixty-nine years old.
His funeral became a powerful testament to the place he held in Mauritian society. People from different communities came to pay their respects. Shops and workshops closed. Workers, families and neighbours followed the funeral procession of a man remembered not only as a “master”, in the language of the time, but also as a friend. He left behind a legacy of generosity, energy, responsibility and moral courage.
The Same Moon Over Mauritius
After Edmond’s death, Claire left Mauritius for Paris with two of her daughters. Yet distance did not loosen the family bonds. From Paris, she continued to think of her children who had remained in Mauritius, and in one of her letters, a simple image captures all the tenderness of a mother separated from those she loved. Looking at the moon, she imagined that same light shining on her children far away:
“I shine on you and I shine on your children far from you.”
A mother in Paris, her children in Mauritius, and the same moon shining across the distance between them. Through Claire, Saint Antoine becomes more than a piece of land or an inheritance; it becomes a place of memory and love.
The Passing of Saint Antoine
After Edmond’s death, Saint Antoine entered a more uncertain chapter. The estate had already survived one moment of danger when Claire stepped in during Edmond’s financial difficulties to buy it back and prevent its loss. But a few years later, its future would once again depend on the determination of the family.
Claire left Mauritius for Paris in 1881. Several of her children remained on the property. Yet Evenor, the eldest son who had been prepared to take over Saint Antoine, chose a different path and settled at Mon Rocher to manage another family estate.
This opened the way for Régis, a younger brother whose commitment and determination would save Saint Antoine once again.
By 1889, Claire had decided to sell the property. For Régis, this was more than the sale of land. It meant the possible loss of the place that embodied his father’s life’s work, his mother’s courage and the roots of his childhood.
Régis had already qualified as an engineer in Paris and returned to Mauritius. He had the practical mind and discipline to see the estate not merely as an inheritance, but as something that could still be restored, managed and passed on.
Régis joined forces with Auguste, Rodolphe, Edmée and Berthe to purchase the estate and keep it within the family. The price was 280,000 rupees. It was a decisive moment: the property Claire had once rescued from creditors was saved a second time, this time from leaving the family.
Over the following years, Régis worked to consolidate ownership. In 1908, he bought Rodolphe’s share; in 1909, he bought Auguste’s. He continued gradually acquiring the remaining shares, including those of Berthe and Edmée, until he became the sole owner of Saint Antoine in 1916. It was not simply an inheritance, but an act of courage and determination.
Under Régis, the estate was restored to good working order. His training as an engineer gave him a practical, modern approach, and he proved himself a capable farmer and administrator. He expanded the property, added new land and strengthened production. Saint Antoine became one of the country’s important estates, extending over 3,028 arpents, with later additions including Schoenfeld in 1907 and Espérance-Trébuchet in 1912.
But Régis’s story was also marked by profound personal loss. In 1885, he married Marie-Caroline Eléonore Le Maire, and they had four children: Marcel, Robert, Irène and Olga. His two sons, who had been expected to follow in his footsteps, died young. Marcel was lost when his ship was wrecked in a cyclone on its way to India. Robert enlisted during the First World War and was sent to Mesopotamia, where he was reported missing and presumed killed in 1916. With the loss of Marcel and Robert, the future of Saint Antoine passed through his daughters.
Régis had bought a property in the Loire Valley in France and settled there with his family. He never returned to Mauritius after 1920, perhaps because the memories had become too painful. In his absence, Francis Rouillard remained the estate’s manager, while Régis lived in France until his death in 1935.
The next important figure was Olga, Régis’s youngest daughter.
Remembered as kind, cheerful and hospitable, Olga married Daniel Bourdon de Nanclas at Saint Antoine in 1913. She followed her husband to France, and they had two children, Marcel and Claire. After her husband’s death and once the war years had passed, she decided in 1946 to return to Mauritius and settle her family at Saint Antoine, the beloved home of her childhood.
With Olga, the estate entered a new chapter. The sugar business was taken in hand by her son, Marcel de Nanclas, a qualified engineer, and her son-in-law, Robert de Grivel. The two brothers-in-law managed the estate together, introducing reforms and improvements. Olga, together with her daughter Claire, devoted herself to restoring the house’s joy of life, its former elegance, its place in the community and its generous spirit of hospitality.
The years following independence brought profound economic challenges and considerable restructuring of the sugar industry. Faced with these difficulties, Marcel decided to sell his share. Claire, however, was determined to preserve La Demeure Saint Antoine at all costs, reluctantly agreeing to part with a large portion of the land. The family’s roots had to be protected, along with the efforts and resilience of those who had come before her.
In this way, the de Grivel family became the guardians and protectors of Saint Antoine, its spirit and the traditions that endure to this day.
The Soul of La Demeure Saint Antoine
What makes La Demeure Saint Antoine so compelling is not simply that it survived, but how it survived.
It knew ambition, weathered crises, escaped loss and continually found new life. Shaped by Edmond’s energy, saved from ruin by Marguerite Claire’s courage, rescued from sale and rebuilt under Régis, revived by Olga’s optimism and then preserved by Claire in the face of another possible sale, it was ultimately passed on to the generations that followed.
Time and again, the estate’s story has been shaped by people who understood that it was more than land. It was a family gathering place, a world of work, a place of welcome and a vessel of memory.
Its soul lies in this continuity: in the many hands that have kept it alive, in the dedication of those who worked the land, the grace of those who offered hospitality, the decisions of those who prevented its loss, and the attachment that bound its guardians to it through the generations. La Demeure Saint Antoine remains remarkable because it holds all of this at once: hospitality and labour, beauty and complexity, family and responsibility.
A house made for welcoming. A house saved by love and duty. A house whose story continues.