Shugborough Hall, Oak Island and Rennes le Chateau. The strange case of the Leborde family.

Shugborough Hall, Oak Island and Rennes le Chateau. The strange case of the Leborde family.  2/11/2020

What if there were a way to really take a shot at what these treasure stories really mean?

There are some similarities in theme among the mysteries of Shugborough Hall, Rennes le Chateau, and Oak Island Nova Scotia. For instance, the work of famous French artist Nicolas Poussin has been related to each place via his famous painting “The Shepherds of Arcadia.” The theme of Arcadia may be somewhat of a clue in these mysteries and many others. But who had arranged this to be so and why?

As we have discussed before the answer to that is difficult to conjure but may also include Sir Philip Sidney who wrote a literary work entitled “Arcadia.” What may be revealed here is a way to understand all three mysteries by examining the legacy of a few French, English, and Scottish families that were all interrelated somewhat.

Though a starting place in this saga is hard to decide on we will begin our journey at Fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia. Surprisingly this will link us to some people who have connections to Shugborough Hall and Rennes le Chateau as well. Fortress Louisbourg is thought by some researchers to be the source of the riches stashed in the Money Pit at Oak Island. Louisbourg was sacked by the English during their military engagements with the French in what is now Nova Scotia. Louisbourg sits in the northern part of Nova Scotia near Cape Breton. The English assaulted and captured the Fortress twice once in 1745 and once in 1758.

Naturally some people have speculated that large amounts of payroll in the form of gold specie was taken from the fort and hidden in the Money Pit at Oak Island. The same is also said of the ill-fated d’Anville expedition of 1746 which likely also brought a large amount of gold for payroll. This author has also espoused the theory that d’Anville was bringing gold to Nova Scotia for Bonnie Prince Charlie which was left over from the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion that he had lost. It is noted that the French Navy had recovered both Bonnie Prince Charlie and possibly any left over funds at the end of the rebellion.

There may be an alternate version of the Louisbourg and d’Anville stories that has not been considered yet.

During this era of history, the financial affairs, payroll, and taxes associated with a place like Fortress Louisbourg was usually managed by a treasurer or person that oversaw all of these vital concerns. In the case of Louisbourg the treasurer was a man named Jean Laborde (La Borde) who had been present before and after both the 1745 and 1758 sieges of Louisbourg. Laborde is a person in this saga that may have been aware of any missing funds prior to and after each siege. He was coincidentally also the treasurer of the famous d’Anville expedition. In addition to his job as treasurer Laborde also ran a small fleet of privateers from which he personally benefited. It is possible all of his activities were guided by other family members in France and Spain.

Normally it would be assumed that any attacking force such as the British in this case would have captured any funds associated with the fortress. Strangely there is a thread of evidence that suggests Jean Laborde may have ended up with a large percentage of any missing funds from Louisbourg.

After the second siege Laborde was even charged with the misappropriation of nearly a half a million Livres worth of gold and other funds. Since a Livre is worth a pound of silver this fortune was worth about 104,000,000 million dollars in today’s money. Laborde eventually was said to have paid about half the money back which is also kind of curious with regard to where he obtained that amount of money in the first place. Laborde claimed it had been someone else who had escaped with the funds to Spain. Coincidentally a place where his family was from.

In previous works this author has speculated that the d’Anville Expedition had deposited something on Oak Island associated with Bonnie Prince Charlie. Here we also have a rationale as to why the treasurer of both Louisbourg and the d’Anville Expedition would have been directly involved in this if he hadn’t simply attempted to pocket the money himself. Here we may see a pattern that suggests that is possible even in league with how the money may have been hidden at Oak Island. We may now consider the possibility that Jean Laborde had intimate knowledge of any missing funds from Louisbourg or the d’Anville Expedition. It may be that the mysteries of Rennes le Chateau, Shugborough Hall, and Oak Island are all associated with large amounts of wealth that disappeared during times of war. This is not uncommon at all.

Laborde was likely from a family of established French and Spanish bankers of the same name. His family had had a long and illustrious history in France very similar to the Rochefoucauld family of the duc d’Anville. Various family members over time had been involved in exploration, military careers, banking, and fine art. If we follow out all the threads of association with mystery via this family some amazing facts become obvious.

Though there is no documentary evidence that Jean Laborde is related to the more famous part of the family in France his biography includes allusions to Spain where the rest of his family had developed in the Basque country of Spain and France. Jean Laborde was also serving in a capacity that was part of the banking tradition of the Leborde family in question. It is not unusual for members of prominent families to have become disassociated with their genealogy after the time they went to the colonies.

The mere mention of the Laborde family in association with the Oak Island Money Pit may also compel us to consider that they are indeed involved in the mysteries of Rennes le Chateau and Shugborough Hall. Two other conundrums that also seem to be part of the Arcadian Mysteries that all reference the imagery of Philip Sidney’s book “Arcadia” as well as Nicolas Poussin’s famous painting “The Shepherds of Arcadia.” There are indeed two separate factions that may have valued one or the other version of these artistic definitions of the concept of Arcadia. One group may be comprised of supporters of the fallen Kings of England, Ireland, and Scotland the exiles Stewart family. The Stewart’s supporters were at various times known of as Cavaliers or Jacobites.

The other faction of people who appreciated the concept of Arcadia on their own terms would include members of the Pontifical Academy of Arcadia of the Vatican to which Nicolas Poussin had many connections. Poussin lived and worked in Rome for wealthy patrons of the Church for much of his life. He had also been educated by Jesuits including some say Athanasius Kircher himself. Kircher was somewhat of a Catholic magi in comparison to people like Dr. John Dee or Michael Scot a little earlier in history.

One major clue exposed by the possible involvement of Jean Laborde involves the art collection of the founder of the Academy of Arcadia Queen Christina of Sweden. Queen Christina had abdicated her throne because she had refused to renounce her Catholic faith. This in the same era as Charles I who had been beheaded in part due to his Catholic associations. Queen Christina had exiled herself in Rome and had at that time created an artist’s guild and literary salon that may have even included Nicolas Poussin.

Though this group was later named the Academy of Arcadia it is widely accepted that Queen Christina was the founder of this group of artists and painters who met at a sacred grove on the Capitoline Hill of Rome. In many ways, the Academy of Arcadia was a Vatican response to the many artist’s and literary guilds that had been established by those who opposed them. These gatherings were often the occasion of much political discussion and airing of grievances with regard to the monarchies of Europe as well as the perceived interference of the Church. It is no surprise that a similar group would have been formed to aid the Vatican in its efforts. In some ways these artist’s guilds operated as both information gathering and propaganda producing entities.

For example, we have discussed previously how Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin attended literary salons during their time as ministers to France. The Marquis de Lafayette would often attend these gatherings with the two men. One notable example is the gatherings at the Chateau le Roche Guyon hosted by Louis Alexandre Rochefoucauld who was the son of the duc d’Anville who had lost his life in Nova Scotia or Acadia. It appears that these literary salons had influenced or helped two of the most famous figures of the Revolutionary War era.

As part of her extensive art collection Queen Christina had obtained several works of the noted artist Poussin. Of interest is the fact that over the years as this collection changed hands it had always been sold as a collection and not broken up. Eventually Queen Christina’s art collection was obtained by a man named Louis Joseph Alexandre Laborde (1773-1842). Louis Laborde was also an accomplished world explorer and artist himself. Laborde had even produced an illustrated book of landscape design that had apparently been at least in part inspired by the landscaping present at Shugborough Hall of the Anson family in England.

This is no surprise when one considers the fact that Louis Leborde had toured Egypt, the Holy Land, and Petra Jordan with a member of the famous Anson family of Shugborough Hall. It appears that Leborde had toured this region with the son of the second Earl of Lichfield Thomas Anson. It is noted the two became friends and often associated with each other though little to no information is available beyond that. Another hint of this comes to us via the book about landscaping that Laborde had produced. In one of the depictions as part of the book is a scene that appears to have been taken directly from Shugborough Hall. The illustration depicts a replica of the Tower of the Winds in a setting that resembles where the replica of the Tower of the Winds is located at Shugborough Hall. Is it possible Leborde had been inspired by the landscaping of Shugborough Hall?

Here we have members of the Laborde family associated with a missing half million Livres of French currency at Fortress Louisbourg and the d’Anville Expedition. We then have another member of the family owning the art collection of Queen Christina of Sweden that included several of the works of Nicolas Poussin. Finally, we have Louis Leborde also having a direct association with a member of the famous Anson family of the Earls of Lichfield at Shugborough Hall. Leborde was also a member of the Masonic Grand Orient of France and has a noted association with a man name Sauniere as noted in a book on the subject. This association comes to us in 1830 so this is too early in time to be Father Sauniere of Rennes le Chateau himself.

Shugborough Hall is of course the home to many architectural follies that may aid in solving this entire mystery including of course the enigmatic Shepherds Monument and Tower of the Winds replica. Leborde’s book about landscaping also includes a strange depiction of a tomb similar to the one depicted in Poussin’s “The Shepherds of Arcadia.” It is noted that the seed of the wealth of the Anson family was from how Admiral Anson had captured the Manilla treasure galleon as part of his circumnavigation voyage. It had been Anson who had built the Tower of the Winds at Shugborogh while it appears the family of his daughter had been the ones to create the Shepherds Monument at about the same time Leborde was associated with the family.

It appears the Leborde family could be involved in whatever is going on at Oak Island, Shugborough Hall, and as we will see the famous landscape mystery of Rennes le Chateau to which the imagery of Poussin has also been applied. The story of Rennes le Chateau does featre a character named Abbe Leborde who was directly associated with Father Sauniere.

Stay tuned for more in a few days. 

Louis Laborde's rendering of the Tower of the Winds from his book about Landscaping. This may have been inspired by his friendship with members of the Anson family. 

 

The Tower of the Winds of Shugborough Hall. Admiral Anson was known to have used the structure to play cards with his friends. 

The enigmatic Shepherds Monument of Shugborough Hall. The monument is likely a memento mori to beheaded King Charles I in the opinion of this author and it is meant to infer the families knowledge of or involvement in the Oak Island and Rennes le Chateau mysteries.