Printed announcement of the death of Charles Baudin

Rare obituary notice for Charles Baudin, who had sailed as a young man on the Baudin expedition to the Terres Australes; Charles was not related to the commander Nicolas Baudin.

Baudin (1792-1854) sailed as a midshipman on the Géographe, but on his return became active in the Napoleonic Wars, seeing a great deal of action against the British. He remained loyal to Napoleon (he was one of the officers who tried to convey the Emperor through the blockade after Waterloo), and as a result was sidelined into the merchant marine after 1816. He eventually returned to active service after 1830, and rose to the rank of Rear Admiral, notably seeing action in the famous "Pastry War" against Mexico in 1838. His later career saw him briefly deployed to South America, before he returned to take over the French Mediterranean Fleet. He spent his retirement in Ischia, but as this sheet confirms, actually died in Paris and was interred there.

The sheet announces the death of Charles Baudin at Paris on 7 June 1854, and was printed at the behest primarily of his widow "Madame l'Amirale", but also with notice of other members of his family including his children. Unusually brief, it does not list any of his manifold achievements, but does provide details of the proposed funeral: the obsequies will take place on 9 June, and mourners are asked to gather at the mortuary, 40 Rue d'Angoulême-Saint-Honoré, at ten in the morning, with the interment to take place immediately following in the "cimitière du Nord".