Database: Pierre, Marquis de Fayet, Gouverneur

Born: 1675 Died: 1737

Pierre Marquis de Fayet was born to family which, though respected, had few land claims. He distinguished himself by virtue of his leadership throughout a productive naval career, which saw him rewarded with an appointment as Governor of Saint-Domingue in 1732.

Leaving a wife and children in France, he journeyed to the colony, hoping to use a brief stint as Governor to earn enough respect, power and wealth to soon return to France and retire in grace and style.

Not much is known of his private life during this time, but he did frequent La Dame en Rose, and had more than a passing acquaintance with brothel madam and information broker, Bastienne Josèphe.

During de Fayet’s tenure as Governor, the slave population of Saint-Domingue would swell to 2000, outnumbering Europeans by a factor of three to one, allowing for both greater production of cash crops and increased political instability. Saint-Domingue under his leadership was both profitable and brutal.

He was murdered by the Assassin, Adéwalé, in 1737, following a skirmish with Maroon warriors, though history records his death as natural.