From: http://www.fillesduroi.org/Daughters/Filles/filles.html

The Filles du Roi

The filles du roi, or King's Daughters, were some 770 women who arrived in the colony of New France (Canada) between 1663 and 1673, under the financial sponsorship of King Louis XIV of France. Most were single French women and many were orphans. Their transportation to Canada and settlement in the colony were paid for by the King. Some were given a royal gift of a dowry of 50 livres for their marriage to one of the many unmarried male colonists in Canada. These gifts are reflected in some of the marriage contracts entered into by the filles du roi at the time of their first marriages.

The filles du roi were part of King Louis XIV's program to promote the settlement of his colony in Canada. Some 737 of these women married and the resultant population explosion gave rise to the success of the colony. Most of the millions of people of French Canadian descent today, both in Quebec and the rest of Canada and the USA (and beyond!), are descendants of one or more of these courageous women of the 17th century.

[List of Filles du Roi is given alphabetically at the site indicated above; Listed below are some of my ancestors shown on that list:]

Ancelin, Françoise , m. Valade, Guillaume, dit Asselin, Nov. 10, 1669

Arcular, Marie , m. 1: Lefebvre, Claude, dit Boulanger, Oct. 28, 1669, m. 2: Lejamble, Pierre, Jul. 7, 1692

Barbant, Marie , m. 1: De Lalonde, Jean, dit Lespérance, contract Nov. 14, 1669, m. 2: Tabault, Pierre, Jan. 26, 1688

Cousin, Françoise, m. Gaudreau, Charles, Oct. 13, 1665

Damours, Hélène , m. 1: Foucher, Louis, dit Laforest, Aug. 6, 1668, m. 2: Lemire, Isaac, Jun. 5, 1686

Girard, Anne , m. Dodelin, Nicolas, Oct. 22, 1665

Guérin, Madeleine , m. 1. Julien, Jean, Nov. 10, 1665, m. 2. Boivin, Pierre, Aug. 31, 1673

Lefebvre, Élizabeth-Agnès, m. Thibault, François, Oct. 14, 1670

Leguay, Madeleine, m. Larchevêque, Jacques, Jun. 3, 1669

Renouard, Marie-Catherine , m. 1. Durand, Nicolas, Dec. 22, 1665, m. 2. Ducarreau, François, Jul. 22, 1702

A translation of The King’s Daughters by Tom Laforest follows: (for a more version of this story, go to the link shown on my Family Page entitled, Les Filles du Roi, or the file listed on my Family Page denoted as The King’s Daughters (longer version--requires an Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Before 1660, the first girls who came to Canada looking for a husband were known as "filles des marier," or marriageable daughters. They were few in number and often made their own way, paying for the passage by a contract of indenture. After 1663 the French royal authorities became concerned with the peopling of the colony. The King himself directed the recruitment of young women of good quality for this purpose. Hence the appellation, Les Filles du Roi or Daughters of the King, called by many, "The King’s Girls."

In the early days the recruitment concentrated on "demoiselles;" girls with a good background and even a little education, suited for the military officers and men of property. Also the initial recruitments were mostly city girls from Paris and surrounding suburbs. This did not work out too well. The King’s man in the colony, Intendant Jean Talon, was obviously responding to the demands of the habitants, when he asked Minister Colbert to send out "strong, intelligent and beautiful girls of robust health, habituated to farm work." Indeed, the bachelors wanted strong partners who could do their share of the work. A not uncommon sight in those days before draft animals had been bred in sufficient numbers, was that of the wife pulling the plow and her husband pushing with one hand, while holding a musket at the ready in the other. It is no coincidence then that most of the girls came from the farm country of Normandy and the Ile-de-France.

Having been selected by recommendation from her parish priest, the girl was promised a dowry by the King. It came to 50 livres if she married a soldier or habitant, or 100 livres if she married an officer. But what did the girl receive before leaving France? The one thing all the girls had in common was poverty, hence a real need to be outfitted. The author is indebted to Raymond Douville and to J.D. Casanova, who wrote La Vie Quotidienne en Nouvelle France, in 1964, noting these details:

"To this statutory grant (the dowry cited above) other essential expenses were added. The first disbursement was set at 100 livres: 10 for personal and moving expenses, 30 for clothing and 60 for the passage. In addition to the aforesaid clothing, the following: a small hope chest, 1 head dress, 1 taffeta handkerchief, 1 pair of shoe ribbons, 100 sewing needles, 1 comb, 1 spool of white thread, 1 pair of stockings, 1 pair of gloves, 1 pair of scissors, 2 knives, 1,000 pins, 1 bonnet, 4 lace braids and 2 livres in silver money. On arrival the Sovereign Council of New France provided the girls with some clothing suitable to the climate and some provisions drawn from the King’s warehouse."

The men eagerly awaited the arrival of the girls and the selection process was a hurry up affair. Nevertheless, the girl could pick and choose, often to the point of exercising her prerogative a few times over. When the match had been made, the newly married couple was given 50 livres to buy provisions, plus an ox and a cow, 2 pigs, a pair of chickens, 2 barrels of salt meat and 11 crowns in money. This was supposed to give the newlyweds a start.

Thus provided for, some 852 of these King’s Daughters arrived in New France during the ten year period from 1663 to 1673. These ladies comprised about 17% of the total population of New France, estimated at less than 5000 souls during this same time. The bracing climate of Canada was said to be particularly advantageous to women. Dollier de Casbon wrote from Montreal, "Though the cold is very wholesome to both sexes, it is incomparably more so to the female, who is almost immortal here."

Even though many Frenchmen married Indian girls, the squaws did not have many children; but not so the King’s Daughters! The Intendant Talon reported that in 1670 most of the girls who had arrived in 1669 were already pregnant and that in 1671 nearly 700 children were borne by them. Without exaggeration it can be said that these women created a nation, from which millions of us have peopled both Canada and the United States.

The province of origin of these 852 daughters of the king are as follows:

Ile-de-France	314	Brie	5
Normandie	153	Berry	5
Aunis	86	Auvergne	5
Champagne	43	Limousin	4
Poitou	38	Angoumois	3
Anjou	22	Provence	3
Beauce	22	Savoie	3
Maine	19	Franche-Comte	2
Orleanais	19	Gascogne	2