[7] His father was a non-noble shipowner and merchant in Le Havre and a captain of the Port of Dunkirk.

[8] (In October 1726, he was ennobled via letters patent of Louis XV together with his father and his brother Étienne in recognition of the family's decades of service to the king).

[9] From 1701 to 1702 he sailed as a privateer on a frigate off the English coast, and then on the Escadre du Nord under Pointis and Saint-Pol Hécourt [fr].

[10] In 1705, his father secured him a position as a garde de la Marine, but he continued to serve in a fleet of French corsairs.

He took part in several naval battles along the coasts of England, Scotland, Russia, Norway and Denmark.

[13] In March 1708 he was given command of a frigate in Forbin's squadron which failed to transport James Francis Edward Stuart to Scotland.

[14] In 1709 he took command of a brigantine and captured a privateer ship from Ostend [15] and later he served on the frigate the Zéphyr.

[18] In 1738–1739 he commanded the Astrée in charge of protecting along the coasts of Guinea the trade of the Compagnie des Indes from the attacks of the English.

[22] In 1756 the king appointed him attached to the council of the Ministry of Marine and director of naval charts and plans.

[17] After his first marriage he lived in the manor of Moros near Concarneau in Brittany,[5] which he bought from Abraham Duquesne.