Gerry's Collection
of Antique Wax Seal Stamps
Family du Chambge de Liessart
A family that belongs to the nobility of Flanders and the Lille region
The du Chambge Family: Lineages and Nobility in Northern France.
The du Chambge family belongs to the nobility of Flanders and the Lille region, an area where ancient feudal structures and the growth of royal administration combined to give rise to a distinctive noble milieu. The family can be traced back to the seventeenth century, when its first prominent members entered royal service.
Its various branches - most notably the du Chambge de Liessart and du Chambge d’Elbhecq - are associated with the seigneuries they acquired or inherited, and they illustrate how provincial nobles maintained their standing both through landownership and through administrative office.
Like many Flemish and Artois houses, the du Chambge family did not belong to the oldest feudal barons of the region but was instead part of the “noblesse de robe” and “noblesse de cloche” who rose in status through judicial and financial service under the French Crown.
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Arms of the du Chambge family
Painting, Flemish school, 17th century
Book by Eleonore Paul Constant
Baron du Chambge de Liessart
The Branch of Liessart.
The best-documented line of the family is that of the du Chambge de Liessart. Its most prominent early figure is Simon-Pierre du Chambge de Liessart (1669–1726). Born in Lille, he rose to become Trésorier de France and 1er Président du Bureau des finances de la généralité de Lille, the administrative body that oversaw fiscal matters for a wide region of northern France. His elevation reflected both ability and loyalty to the Crown, for the Bureau des finances was a key institution in the Ancien Régime’s system of provincial governance. Simon-Pierre was ennobled and confirmed in his nobility by letters patent of Louis XIV, thereby securing for his descendants a recognized place in the order of the French nobility. He married Marie Christine Cardon, who brought with her the seigneury of Douai-en-Roncq; through this marriage and others, the family expanded its landed base.
Simon-Pierre’s son, Charles-Eubert du Chambge de Liessart (1706–1777), continued the family tradition of public service. He held the same office as his father at the Bureau des finances in Lille, and he also bore the title of seigneur de Liessart et de Douai-en-Roncq. His marriage to Marie-Charlotte de Béclers allied him with another respected family of the region. Charles-Eubert is a good example of the transmission of offices within families: the Bureau des finances, like many judicial and financial institutions, saw the same names recur across generations. Through such continuity, the du Chambge secured a prominent place in the society of Lille.
By the nineteenth century, the family continued to hold its name and title in esteem, even though the revolutionary and Napoleonic decades had altered the social position of nobles in provincial towns like Lille. One notable descendant, Éléonore Paul Constant du Chambge de Liessart, styled himself baron and devoted himself to genealogical and historical research. In 1855, he published Notes historiques relatives aux offices et aux officiers du bureau des finances de la généralité de Lille, a detailed study of the institution in which his ancestors had played such a central role. His work reflects a broader nineteenth-century trend among noble families: to record, preserve, and justify their lineage through historical and genealogical writing. Even if the Ancien Régime offices no longer existed, memory of them became a form of cultural capital. Éléonore’s use of the baronial style was part of this heritage assertion, maintaining the prestige of the family name in a changed society.
The Branch of Elbhecq.
Another line of the family, the du Chambge d’Elbhecq, is less documented but also tied to the seigneuries of Flanders. The name comes from the estate of Elbhecq, which the family held and from which it drew its designation. Like the Liessart branch, the d’Elbhecq line pursued careers in administration and maintained their place within the provincial nobility. Through offices, alliances, and seigneurial possessions, they were part of the broader network of Flemish noble families who formed a distinctive milieu: noble, but also deeply involved in municipal and regional governance.
The Title of Baron.
The title of baron was claimed by several members of the du Chambge family, most notably by Éléonore Paul Constant in the nineteenth century. While the exact origin of the baronial dignity remains somewhat obscure, it seems to have been a recognition of the family’s seigneurial standing and service in high office. Under the Ancien Régime, many offices conferred nobility but not a barony; however, it was not uncommon in the nineteenth century for old families to adopt or reassert such titles, especially in genealogical works or social settings.
The baronial style gave Éléonore Paul Constant a way of connecting his historical research with his family’s noble identity, showing continuity between the past and present.
Social Position in Lille and Flanders.
In the society of Lille, the du Chambge were recognized as part of the ruling elite. Lille, annexed by Louis XIV in 1667, became a showcase of French power in the north. The Crown invested heavily in integrating local elites into its system. Nobles who served in offices like the Bureau des finances were central to this integration. They combined landed identity - as seigneurs of Liessart, Elbhecq, Douai-en-Roncq - with urban authority. This dual role gave them strong standing: they were part of the urban patriciate while also retaining the prestige of rural seigneurs.
The du Chambge were therefore typical of the provincial nobility of northern France, who maintained their place not through spectacular court presence but through steady service in local institutions, careful marriages, and a cultivated sense of lineage. In Lille, such families provided continuity between the old Flemish traditions of governance and the centralized French monarchy.
Monnaie de Paris
Arms of S.P. du Chambge de Liessart
Baron Pierre Joseph du Chambge d'Elbhecq
Nobility in Lille and the North of France.
To appreciate the du Chambge fully, it is useful to situate them in the broader context of nobility in Lille and northern France. The annexation of Flanders, Artois, and Hainaut into the French kingdom in the seventeenth century created a complex social landscape. Local nobles had traditions stretching back to the medieval county of Flanders, but they were now brought into the orbit of Versailles and the French monarchy. Many were registered in the Armorial général de France (1696), confirming their rights and privileges.
Lille itself was unusual: it was a wealthy and dynamic city, with traditions of civic governance. Nobility here was less about great territorial lords than about urban nobles who held offices, magistracies, and financial posts. The region thus produced many families who combined the functions of municipal notables, royal administrators, and seigneurs of smaller fiefs. The du Chambge family exemplifies this type of northern French nobility: not princes of vast estates, but respected administrators, office-holders, and genealogists who gave stability to their community.
In the eighteenth century, such nobles were highly influential in the social and political life of Lille. They were also conservative, defending their privileges and traditions, which explains why members like Charles Louis Philippe joined the émigrés during the Revolution. In the nineteenth century, though their political power declined, their memory and historical works - such as those of Éléonore Paul Constant - helped preserve a sense of continuity between past nobility and modern society.
The du Chambge family in today's French Republic.
In today’s French Republic, the du Chambge family - like all former noble families - no longer holds any legal status or privileges connected to its old titles. The nobility as an institution was abolished during the Revolution and never restored, even though the use of hereditary styles such as “baron” or “count” persists in private and social contexts. For the du Chambge, the baronial title once carried by members such as Éléonore Paul Constant is now regarded as a courtesy title: part of family tradition, but without legal recognition in modern France.​ Despite this, the family retains a symbolic and cultural presence. They are remembered through genealogical works, heraldic records, and Éléonore Paul Constant’s own 19th-century historical writings. Their story is part of the administrative and social history of Lille and Flanders, where their ancestors held important offices. Today, families like the du Chambge often contribute to historical and heritage associations, preserving archives, coats of arms, and local memory, ensuring their noble identity survives in a cultural - rather than political - form.
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Gerry's Collection of Antique Seal Stamps.