Florentin Seillière

Florentin Seillière was born on 3 July 1744 in Saint-Mihiel, Meuse.[1] He was the son of François Seillière (1707–1749) and Marie-Anne Sellier. His father, who was descended from officials at the court of Lorraine, had become a wool merchant in Saint-Mihiel.[2] The Seillières were a prominent Catholic family.[3] The family name had been Sellier (Saddler), then Seillier, and finally Seillière.[1] In 1769 Florentin married Jeanne Chevalier (1750–1802).[2] Their children were Nicolas (1770–1844), Germain Auguste (1775–1803), François (1782–1843) and Claude Florentin (died 1808).[1]

Florentin and his brother Aimé (1742–1793) expanded the family business to become suppliers of clothing and guns to the army. In 1776 the Seillières (Aimé and Florentin) created a cloth company at Pierrepont, Meurthe-et-Moselle.[2] They were successful in the wool trade with Germany, and their lavoir at Pierrepont soon became an important supplier of cloth for the army.[4] In 1787 Florentin moved to Nancy where he obtained letters-patent of bourgeoisie from consular judges of Lorraine and Barrois.[5] Later he was named héraut d'armes (herald), an honorary title that conferred nobility which would be inherited by his descendants.[4]

The Wendels lost their forge and foundry at Hayange during the French Revolution.[3] In 1789 the Seillières obtained the lease of the royal forge of Ruelle, which had been managed by Ignace de Wendel (1741–1795).[2] Florentin Seillière helped the Wendels buy back their Hayange forge in 1804.[3] In 1808 he was chosen by the emperor Napoleon as head of the board of saltworks of the east.[4] Seillière supported Jean François Marin in his purchase of a large foundry in Moyeuvre. In 1811 François de Wendel signed two bonds of 120,000 and 180,000 from Seillière in order to buy the Moyeuvre foundry from Marin.[6]

Florentin's son Nicolas created a branch of the bank in Paris in 1798, and specialized in recovering public debts held by companies supplying the army.[2] Florentin's other son François-Alexandre joined his brother in Paris in 1805, and in 1808 founded a bank at the Rue Le Peletier in the 9th arrondissement. François-Alexandre was an entrepreneur more than a banker, and became very involved in the textile industry.[2] Florentin's granddaughter became countess of Sommariva.[4]

Florentin Seillière was a member of the electoral council of the Meuse and a knight of the Legion of Honour.[7] He was created a baron of the Empire in January 1814 on promise of institution of majorat.[8] He was confirmed as baron by letters patent of King Louis XVIII of France in 1815.[5][9] His title was made hereditary in the form of majorat in 1817.[7] He died on 4 February 1825 at the age of 80.[1] He left a fortune of 5.5 million francs.[10]