The vast, sparsely populated territory of New France, which occupied much of what became the United States and Canada, was a lonely place for men in the 1600s. The king of France, Louis XIV, wanted his colonies to succeed, but he thought he needed white Europeans to establish a thriving, prosperous New World and compete with the English and Dutch.
So, in 1663 he started sending young women to marry the French pioneers, put down roots, and to help populate the country. These women were called filles du roi, (daughters of the king) or the King’s Wards. They were single women, most of whom were never married and some widows. Most of them were orphans or destitute women from Paris and Rouen who ranged in age from 12 to 40. Some grew up on farms and so had some of the practical skills needed to survive in a harsh, wild environment.
Some people in Quebec believe these women were prostitutes and were sent into exile, but that is false. To be a candidate for the dubious distinction of being sent to settle a harsh new frontier, a priest had to verify that they were of suitable background for marriage. Just one of these women was cast out for prostitution, in Quebec. And that was after her husband died, and she was desperate to survive.
Life in the French New World
About 250 of the women chosen for the New World resided in a former gunpowder storage building called the Salpêtrière converted into a hospice by the king in 1656. It was a place of last resort, what a French Canadian genealogy site calls “truly a wretched place. Dirty, cold and overcrowded, the hospital was a dumping ground for women who were mentally ill, disabled, epileptic, poor or orphaned. It was also where authorities sent prostitutes to keep them off the streets of Paris. The Salpêtrière soon became associated with prostitution, or Filles de joie.”
It was from this that people got the idea that the filles du roi had been street walkers. The genealogy site says two women from New France traveled to France to vet the women before they shipped out. They chose women who were good-looking or average, in good health, intelligent, strong and healthy. They also sought women who were morally upright. About half of them were orphans.
It is unknown whether the women were given a choice to stay in France or settle in the New World.
Women coming to Quebec in 1667, to be married to the French-Canadian farmers. (Public Domain)
700 to 800 Filles du Roi
Between 1663 and 1673, the French sent an estimated 700 to 800 filles du roi women of child-bearing age to marry the colonists and boost the new country’s population. It was an effective policy, and millions of people are descended from these women and men.
New France in its maximal expansion, before the Treaties of Utrecht in 1713. (Public Domain)
About 10 percent of the women died making the harsh passage from France to the New World. A relatively few others made the trip but then changed their minds and returned to France.
The king gave incentives to the women. He paid the price of their transport and gave them a trousseau or wedding package of clothing, linens and other items needed to establish a household. Some of these women also received a dowry or a sum of money that would be paid to their new husband. The crown also provided a pension to families who had 10 children or more.
The king was aware that the populations of the Dutch and English colonies on the Atlantic coast were growing a lot faster than the population of New France. The French laid claim to a huge amount of territory around the Great Lakes, the Ohio Valley and parts west and south. Much of these territories were far from the population centers along the American East Coast.
The Native Americans and First Nations people apparently were not seen as marriageable and were not factored into the French population-growth strategy. Europeans settling New France faced attacks by natives, which made the difficult pioneering life even more dangerous.
A Warm Welcome, But a Difficult Life in New France
The women who made the trip arrived in Quebec City to a joyous reception by the residents and young bachelors. They lived in homes operated by nuns or in other respectable lay households for about five months until they wed. The women were given lessons in cleaning, cooking and sewing. Because women were so few, they had a choice in whom they would marry, a rare privilege in a society where arranged marriages were the norm.
Many of these “founding mothers” settled in Quebec City, but some made their way to Montreal, down the St. Lawrence River. For a time, they made up about half of the female emigrants to New France. On average, these women gave birth to 6.3 or 6.4 children.
Their homes were mostly ramshackle cabins that provided little protection against the cold during the winter. The land was in the forest and needed to be cleared. They faced the possibility of catching an infectious disease, the dangers of childbirth, and attacks by Iroquois Indians in league with the British.
Estimates put the descendants of the filles du roi at about 4.4 million people in Quebec Province. A couple of movies, both titled Les Filles du Roi, have been made about these brave women, one in 1973 and another in 2023.
Top image: The arrival of the filles du roi in 1667, a painting by Charles William Jeffreys. Source: Public Domain
By Mark Miller
References
Kujawski, K. Unknown date. Les Filles du Roi | The King’s Daughters, The French-Canadian Genealogist blog. Available at https://www.tfcg.ca/filles-du-roi.
Schladen, M. March 14, 2024. Remembering a group of founding mothers, Ohio Capital Journal website. Available at https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/03/14/remembering-a-group-of-founding-mothers/\
Unknown. The filles du roi (daughters of the king), the CBC site Le Canada, a People’s History. Available at https://www.cbc.ca/history/EPCONTENTSE1EP2CH7PA5LE.html
The Filles du Roi were women sent by King Louis XIV to New France (1663–1673) to marry settlers and boost the population. They helped shape Canada's early society.
The Filles du Roi were chosen based on health, moral character, and practical skills, with most being orphans or from poor backgrounds. They were vetted for suitability for marriage.
