french word and meaning?

[kylejustin]

i have a baptism on the 12 may 1757 at lorient in the french departement of morbihan, in brittany. it's for henriette francoise desbleds, and i can't read a word in connection with the godfather "parrain":

"le sieur noel estienne, ancien ?VABRIQUE? et echevin de cette ville"

it's that one word i can't make out. doesn't translate into french with that spelling either...help please. b.1757 hen fran desbleds.jpg

[fran]

Could it start with an "f"? fabrique. Could he be a manufacturer of something?

[Katarzyna]

Looks like fabrique to me too.

But:
ancien fabricant et échevin de cette ville - would read - former manufacturer and alderman of this city.

Edit: "ancien fabricant" - literally "old maker"

ancien fabrique - old factory

What are the words just before that - can't make that out.

[kylejustin]

it doesn't match the "f" in "francoise", nor any other letter of the alphabet in the text. eschevin means alderman. lorient is a port city, in those days used by the french east india company as a base.

[GallowayLass]

I’ve been googling and have no definitive answer but I have found a couple of mentions of the word in articles concerning Cape Breton in Canada. Vabrique was a factory in one article and intetestingly in the other it had a church connection and meant vestry.
The phrase used was ‘Les Comites des Vabriques’ which I took to mean something similar to the Scottish Kirk Session. I think I have read somewhere in the past that churches in England had Vestry Committees. Somebody used to Church of England business would be able to clarify that.
Hope that helps a bit.

[Janet in Yorkshire]

I believe the C of E held vestry meetings, which were attended by the clergyman and the church wardens and, possibly, any other men with church responsibilities. I would think vestry meetings were the forerunners of parochial church councils and their current PCC meetings.

[GallowayLass]

I believe the C of E held vestry meetings, which were attended by the clergyman and the church wardens and, possibly, any other men with church responsibilities. I would think vestry meetings were the forerunners of parochial church councils and their current PCC meetings.

That was what I was thinking Janet. Thanks for confirming that I was on the right train of thought.

[kylejustin]

unlikely anything to do with church, but thanks.

i think a former manufacturer makes more sense. unfortunately this is the only document that mentions his occupation.