iFamily History: Filles du Roi

Two-thirds of French Canadians have an ancestor who was a filles du roi ~ A King's Daughter.

Since I am related to the first white landowner of Canada the chances were high that at least one of my grandmothers was one. I found three.

I googled to find a list of the names of the girls. With my FamilySearch pedigree on one screen and the list on another, I went through all the French Canadian wives on my pedigree that were married between 1663 and 1673. I was so excited when I found one! Then when I clicked on her in FamilySearch, someone had very nicely added the logo as her profile picture!! Thank you whoever that was!
Then I found another ancestor whose son married the daughter of the first one I had found!

Summary of who they were
France needed more women to come to New France. The British had lots of females going to the colonies. Jean Talon and King Louise XIV come up with the idea of sending young women to New France with a dowery. Most were poor. None were prostitutes. All volunteered. 800 left but 1/10th died on the voyage over.

I like what CBC said (link below) - The biggest Baby Boom in Canadian history! The population of New France doubles in a decade. They also mentioned "Speed dating, 1600s style" !!

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/2017/canadathestoryofus/most-french-canadians-are-descended-from-these-800-women-1.4029699

Websites

For more information on who these girls were, check out the following websites:

Check out more than one of the above websites for information.
Note the difference of information between the two websites below for a few of my ancestors.

Jalais, Marie

Born about 1653 in the parish of Saint-Martin, Ile de Re (Arrondissement and diocese of La Rochelle), Aunis,

Daughter of Jean Jalais and Barthelemie Bescendye.

Marie arrived in Canada in 1669, about age 16

She was one of twenty girls who signed the 1667 Complaint at Dieppe

m. 1. Lauzé, Jean, dit Matha, Aug. 26, 1669

Settled in Sainte-Famille

They had 3 children.

m. 2. Leclerc, Robert, Jul. 9, 1680

Married in Quebec City.

Robert was a carpenter and bourgeois. In 1667 a servant of Jean Soulard at Quebec City.

8 children

Marie Jalais died 8 Dec 1721 at Hotel-Dieu de Quebec

Robert LeClerc died 5 Jul 1731.

Caillé, Marie-Jeanne

Marie-Jeanne born about 1654 in the Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs parish in Paris.

Daughter of Claude Caille and Anne Malle

Arrived in Canada in 1671, at about 17 years.

m. Pepin, Jacques, Nov. 16, 1671 at Trois-Rivieres

Settled in Nicolet

9 children

First 3 baptized in Trois-Rivieres

The other were baptized at Champlain.

Jacque died 9 Apr 1715

Marie-Jeanne died 12 Mar 1734.

Raclos, Madeleine

Born about 1656 in Paris

Daughter of squire Godebon Raclos and Marie Viennot.

Madeleine arrived in Canada in 1671 with her two sisters Francoise and Marie Raclos, also Filles du roi, and their father Godebon.

It is unusual for a father to accompany their daughters. One definition of Filles du roi is that they came without parents.

m. Perrault, Nicolas, contract Nov. 11, 1671 Cap-de-la-Madeleine.

She had a dowry worth over 1,000 livres.

Nicolas was donne of the Jesuits until 1663.

He was a servant of Jacques Testard's widow at Montreal.

Servant of the Sulpicians.

Nicolas became a renowned explorer, interpreter and fur trader.

An article about Nicolas at The French Canadian Genealogist

Another website lists:
Marie (Jallais) Jalais abt 1653 St-Martin de Re, France - 8 Dec 1721
Marie Jeanne Caillé abt 1653 Paris, St-Nicolas-des-Champs, France - 12 Mar 1734
Madeleine Raclos 6 Jan 1656 Chaumont-en-Bassigny (St-Jean-Baptiste), Champagne, France - 8 Jul 1724