Adam de Baillon seigneur de Valence

Adam was baptized 9 February 1549 (New Style) at the Saint-Solenne parish of Blois to parents Adam de Baillon sieur de Valence and Anne Saulsaye.[1] Following the death of his father (1570 or early 1571) he succeeded him as sieur de Valence. Adam married Renée de Maillard about 1580.

"Adam de Baillon, seigneur de Valence, epousa Renée Maillard, fille de Nicolas Maillard, seigneur de Ia Boissière et du Breuil, et de Marie Morand" [Adam de Baillon, Seigneur of Valence, married Renée Maillard, daughter of Nicolas Maillard, Seigneur of la Boissière and of le Breuil, and of Marie Morand] [2]

The family became established in the Chevreuse Valley southwest of Paris, and from their marriage five children are known. Since only the baptismal record for the youngest daughter Marguerite has been located their birth order can only be guessed at; Adam would have been the elder of the two sons; Catherine was godmother of Marguerite; and Roberde married four years after Catherine’s first marriage contract, which suggest the following order:

Catherine [3] Adam [3] Roberde [3] Alphonse born about 1598 [3] Marguerite born July 1600 in the parish of Saint-Pierre, Dampierre-en-Yvelines, France [4] Adam died on 20 November 1626 in France.

Notes

It is difficult to obtain primary sources since many of the Paris records from before 1800 have been destroyed in a fire.

Research notes

Adam was the sieur de Valence, not Massicotterie which was purchased by his younger son Alphonse in 1627 after Adam’s death. Adam and his family occur often in the parish records of the communes in the Chevreuse valley, referencing him as the sieur de Valence –sometimes simply as ‘Monsieur de Valence’.

The online French blog of Gilles Brassard dated March 2019[5] discussing the inventaire après décès of Adam (II) de Baillon, contains valuable information about the family that illuminates details hinted at by other earlier sources. In particular the documents held in Adam's possession and listed in his inventory are vital to the reconstruction of these generations of the de Baillon family. The inventory aside, Brassard’s blog additionally identifies the location for the baptism of Adam (III) de Baillon as well as his two older sisters Anne and Marie, which is a very noteworthy discovery.