This year marks the 350th Anniversary of the first arrival of the Filles du Roi! Many of us are descended from not one but many, so it’s time to dig into your lineage and celebrate our heritage!
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. They 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 United States (and beyond!), are descendants of one or more of these courageous women of the 17th century.
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. Of the nearly 1000 women who undertook the journey, about 800 made it to Canada. They were promised 50 livres if they married a soldier or farmer and 100 livres if an officer. There were very few of the latter simply because there were very few officers who needed help in finding a wife of their own choice.
The Carignan-Salieres regiment arrived in Quebec City in the summer of 1665, the first contingent arriving on June 18. This was the first expedition of royal troops to Canada. The regiment counted twenty companies, and each company was made up of three officers – a captain, a lieutenant and an ensign – two sergeants, three corporals, five anspessades and forty soldiers, including at least one drummer. Four other companies drawn from the regiments of Lignières, Chambellé, Poitou and Orléans coming from the West Indies also came to Quebec City with Marquis de Tracy, the new governor general.
Considering that the colony had about 3200 inhabitants, the arrival of some 1200 soldiers and 80 officers had an extraordinary impact on its development. A body of troops of this magnitude in Canada completely transformed what had until then been a precarious military situation for the colony. Finally, towns could be fitted out with suitable garrisons, and new forts could be built to block the Richelieu River, the Iroquois’ traditional route. In just a few weeks, the French went from the defensive stance that had been necessary for almost a quarter of a century to a new tactic: attacking the Iroquois on their own territory.
In 2004, William F. Kane of the ACGS in Manchester, NH. found that 167 soldiers of the Carignan Regiment married “Filles du Roi” in Quebec. We invite all of our members to trace their family lineage to one of these couples through our Filles du Roi – Soldats du Carignan Research Program. Not only will you uncover your family’s place in the founding of the New Americas, but you can earn the beautiful pin, above, that we have had designed especially for this program.
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This story came from our free semi-annual member publication from the Vermont French-Canadian Genealogical Society, LINKS. To receive more stories like this, as well as a wealth of information on genealogies, histories, documents, research, found photos, maps, and charts, join us!
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