Frédéric de Büren 1716-1770

Frédéric was the second son of Albert de Büren (1678-1756) and Elisabeth de Diesbach(1681-1724). From 1735-1754 he was in the Swiss Guards in the service of France. He fought during the War of Austrian Succession at the Battles of Fontenoy, Rocoux, Lauffeld and the Siege of Bergen op Zoom during which he was wounded by a cannon blast. In 1755 he became member of the Bern Grand Council and in 1764 would become Governor of Erlach.

Frédéric de Büren (1716-1770), painted in 1770 by Constant Boili

Marriage:

In 1753, Frédéric would marry Marguerite de Diesbach (1737-1796), daughter of Amédé de Diesbach and Marguerite Hackbrett. She would later marry François de Willading.

An Irish Scoundrel

Frédéric and Marguerite would have three children, sadly only one would live to adulthood. Marguerite Elisabeth de Büren (1754-1836) was a very bright and warm person. Her father died when she was 16 years old, and the various members of her mother's family were not very good at managing her money. In 1776 she was entered in a marriage contract that would not bring her happiness and if her father were alive he would have never allowed it. She would marry Nicolas O'Brenan, who was born in 1740 in Amsterdam and whose family was originally from County Kildare in Ireland. He took his new wife to Strasbourg where they lived for a number of years high on the hog, presumably with her money. When the money ran out, he disappeared. Marguerite would return in disgrace to her mother in Bern. The marriage was annulled, and Nicolas was ordered to pay an yearly "living" to Marguerite, which he would never do. Nicolas O'Brenan was said to have died at Versailles in 1803.