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Louis Brunet Jaunay 1816–1887

A small marque The story of Louis Brunet Jaunay

Louis Brunet, the youngest child of François and Anne Jaunay established a successful business in his own right. While not in the same league as the Krug and Jacquesson et Fils enterprises, it returned an excellent income which enabled the family to live very comfortably indeed!

Louis Brunet was born in London on 17 October 1815. His baptism took place on 16 July 1817 in nearby St Martin in the Fields Church, Trafalgar Square, London. He was named after his step uncle, Jean Louis Philogene Brunet. This in itself indicates just how François had taken on thoroughly English customs as such a practice in France is unheard of and the use of someone else's family name within a name was, and still is, strictly illegal. It also clearly indicates the significance of Louis Brunet to the Jaunays.
Louis received his early education from a governess before attending school in Richmond, just outside London. He was considered very intelligent and witty, a man who saw work as a necessary evil!

At the age of fourteen he went to France to live in the Jacquesson household at Châlons-sur-Marne. In fact at one stage, his brother-in-law, Adolphe who was much older, considered adopting him. Albeit he ensured the boy received an excellent introduction into the wine making industry. Subsequently he became a travelling salesperson for Joseph Krug.

Louis Brunet married Mrs Annie Hay on 8 April 1850. According to family lore, Annie's previous husband, James Thompson Hay, was killed on active duty with the British forces in India shortly after their marriage. There is no evidence of this and in fact James Thompson Hay is recorded in Irish directories to at least 1846 operating as a Derry woollen draper in Ship Quay street!

Anne, the second child of David and Anne [nee Cunningham] was born in Londonderry on 23 March 1823. This name was to persist through several generations of Jaunays.

By 1853, Louis Jaunay established himself at the corner of the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville and 6 rue de Mars in Reims. Initially he worked for the champagne manufacturer, Mumm. He founded a company called Association Vinicole de Champagne, a joint stock company which was located at 49 rue Coquebert.

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