Gabriel-Julien Ouvrard was a French financier who was born in Moulins d'Antières at Cugand (Vendée) on 11 October 1770 and who died in London in October 1846. Revolution (1787–1800) The son of a paper mill owner, Gabriel-Julien Ouvrard received a basic education, joining a trading house in Nantes in 1787 as an employee. By the end of the Ancien Régime, the trading house was associated with Bordeaux shipowners Baour et Balguerie. Under the Directoire, the trading house enriched itself considerably through colonial trade and military supplies. It then controlled three trading houses in Brest, Nantes and Orleans, the bank of Gamba, Gay et compagnie in Antwerp as well as having large shareholdings in three companies in Paris (Girardot et compagnie, Rougemont et compagnie, Charlemagne et compagnie). It was also associated with three major suppliers: Vanlerberghe (wheat), the Michel brothers (military supplies) and Carvillon des Tillières et Roy (steel and wood). In 1794 he married the daughter of Jean Baptiste Tébaud, a wealthy Nantes merchant. (His wife died in 1818, having borne him three children.) In September 1798, Ouvrard won a six-year contract for the provision of food to the Navy, representing a contract of 64 million francs. A few months later, he won a contract with the Spanish fleet stationed in Brest and then one to supply the army of Italy in 1799. He rented the Château du Raincy near Paris, which he subsequently bought in 1806. Around 1799 he took as his mistress, Madame Tallien, daughter of Count Francois de Cabbarrus. Her family connections would prove useful to Ouvrard. He also had 5 illegitimate children with her. Ouvrard was arrested on 27 January 1800 on the orders of then First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, but a review of his accounts and contracts showed no irregularities. Ouvrard was released. He helped supply the army for its Marengo campaign. The Napoleonic Era (1801–1815) Ouvrard was one of the founders of the Compagnie des Négociants Réunis along with the banker Médard Desprez (1764–1842), Regent of the Bank of France. In exchange for a cash advance, the company received valid obligations including monthly subsidies that Spain had to pay to France in implementing the Treaty of 22 June 1803. In 1804 the company had obtained from Spain its monopoly of trade with Spanish America. However the resumption of war between France and England slowed the movement of vessels. In 1805 the Bank of France