bourgault was from a family of considerable political and ancestral influence. his uncle was adolphe billault, the famous minister of the second empire, personally selected by napoleon iii to act as france's interior minister from 1854-1858. another of his uncles, jules rieffel, from alsace, founded one of france's first agricultural schools called the école nationale supérieure agronomique de rennes. his father was an important businessman, ship owner and munitions expert.