[1] He was born in the family home of the Rue du Pacha in Tunis, the Dar Ben Achour.
[2] He came from a patrician family descended from the third caliph Uthman that had originated in Sfax in the before moving to Tunis at the end of the 18th century.
[1] His grandfather and his uncles had reach high positions in the society of Tunis as notaries and in the state chancellery (diwan al-insha’ ).
When Lasram died in 1861, the private secretary of the young Sadok Bey, Ahmad ibn Abi Diyaf was approached to succeed him but his reformist leanings and his numerous criticisms counted against his promotion and Mustapha Khaznadar appointment the young Bouattour instead.
In office, he deferred to the French Resident General, Paul Cambon, who reorganized and effectively headed the Tunisian administration.