ABSTRACT
When Jean-Claude Beugnot arrived in Rouen in Germinal Year VIII, he carried with him the weight of the law of 28 Pluviose Year VIII. 1 This was one of the landmark acts of the Consular regime, and represented a watershed in ·France's administrative history and in departmental-government relations. The law reorganised the departmental administration and created the French prefectoral corps. Beugnot's first responsibility in the Seine-Inferieure was the establishment of the prefectoral administrative machine. Only then could the new regime tum its attention to implementing reforms and addressing specific problems. It is appropriate therefqre that this study begins by outlining the institutions of the prefectoral administration in the Seine-lnferieure, focusing upon their personnel, functions, responsibilities and inter-relationships.
