Category: King’s Daughters

Perrine Lapierre (c. 1643–1712)

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Perrine Lapierre was born about 1643 in the parish of Saint-Léonard at Corbeil in the Île-de-France, the daughter of Pierre Lapierre and Claude Leclerc.¹

After the death of her parents she left France for Canada in 1665. She is included among the filles du roi, the women whose passage to the colony was sponsored by the Crown.²

She married Honoré Danis dit Tourangeau at Montréal on 20 March 1666. Neither spouse signed the marriage contract.³ Honoré, a master carpenter and carriage maker from Montlouis-sur-Loire in Touraine, had come to Canada in 1653 with the Grande Recrue and later served as a corporal in the militia of Sainte-Famille.¹

Their children were baptized at Montréal:

  • Charlotte (1666–1667)
  • Jean-Baptiste (1668–1713)
  • Honoré and Marie-Catherine, twins (1669)
  • Pétronille (1671)
  • Jeanne (1673–1689)
  • Paul (1675)
  • Nicolas (1677–1758)
  • René (1679–1757)
  • Jacques (1682–1682)
  • Charles (1684–1724)⁴

Notarial records show the couple engaged in the agricultural life of the settlement. On 15 March 1676 Governor François-Marie Perrot granted them a farm lease that included an inventory of livestock and the obligations attached to the property.⁵ Honoré also appears in the judicial record of Montréal, and both he and Perrine were called as witnesses in 1673 in the trial of Pierre Verrier dit La Solaye.¹

On 12 July 1689 their daughter Jeanne, aged sixteen, was killed while bringing in cattle near Montréal during an attack attributed to an Iroquois assailant. The event is documented in the contemporary judicial record.¹ Honoré Danis died at Montréal shortly afterward, between 12 and 25 July 1689.¹

Perrine remained a widow for many years. On 19 March 1705 at Lachine she married Yves Lucas dit Saint-Renan, a master cooper from Brittany.¹

She died on 24 April 1712 and was buried at Montréal.⁴

Her life is recorded in the parish registers of Montréal, in notarial acts that document the establishment of a farm, and in the judicial sources of the colony. She is also listed among the filles du roi identified by modern demographic study.²

Sources

  1. Peter J. Gagné, King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi, 1663–1673, vol. 1 (Pawtucket, R.I.: Quintin Publications, 2000), 347–48.
  2. Yves Landry, Les Filles du roi au XVIIe siècle (Montréal: Leméac, 1992), Perrine Lapierre entry.
  3. Québec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637–1935, marriage contract of Honoré Danis and Perrine Lapierre, 1666.
  4. Québec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621–1968, baptisms of the Danis children; burial of Perrine Lapierre, 24 Apr. 1712, Montréal; see also Cyprien Tanguay, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes, s.v. “Danis.”
  5. Québec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637–1935, farm lease granted by François-Marie Perrot to Honoré Danis and Perrine Lapierre, 15 Mar. 1676.
  6. Benjamin Sulte, Histoire des Canadiens-Français, 1608–1880, census entry for the household of Honoré Danis.
  7. Canadian Genealogy Index, 1600s–1900s.
  8. Canada, Find a Grave Index, 1600s–Current.
  9. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s–1900s.

Louise Bercier

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Louise Bercier was born about 1649 at Auvergnac in Poitou, in the diocese of Luçon, the daughter of Jean Bercier and Marie Morel.¹ She came to New France in 1668, accompanied by her uncle Louis Bercier.²

On 15 October 1668 a marriage contract was drawn before the notary Latouche for the marriage of Louise Bercier and Michel Feuillon at Batiscan; neither the bride nor the groom was able to sign.¹ The marriage followed shortly afterward.³

Michel Feuillon, born about 1630 at Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux in Poitou, was the son of René Feuillon and Mathurine Nicou. He was confirmed 1 May 1664 at Cap-de-la-Madeleine and appears in the 1666 census as a volunteer at Trois-Rivières or Cap-de-la-Madeleine.¹

The couple established their household at Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, where the parish registers record their children:

  • Marie-Madeleine, about 1669
  • Michel, about 1671
  • Antoine, about 1675
  • Barbe (Marie-Barbe), about 1680
  • Marie-Louise, baptized 27 January 1681³

Louise Bercier died at La Pérade between the census of 1681 and 21 January 1687.¹

Michel Feuillon died there between 28 October 1698 and 3 March 1699.¹

Her arrival in 1668, the royal assistance she received, and her marriage soon afterward place her among the women sent to the colony under the royal program to establish families in the seigneurial settlements along the St. Lawrence.²

Sources

  1. Peter J. Gagné, King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi, 1663–1673 (Pawtucket, R.I.: Quintin Publications, 2001), 83–84, Louise Bercier.
  2. Yves Landry, Les Filles du roi au XVIIe siècle (Montréal: Leméac, 1992), entry for Louise Bercier.
  3. Québec (Canada), Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), marriage of Louise Bercier and Michel Feuillon, 1668, Batiscan; baptism of Marie-Louise Feuillon, 27 Jan 1681; see also Cyprien Tanguay, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes, s.v. “Feuillon.”
  4. Québec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637–1935, marriage contract of Louise Bercier and Michel Feuillon, 15 Oct 1668, notary Latouche.

Jeanne Françoise Petit

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Jeanne Françoise Petit was born 19 January 1656 in the parish of Sainte-Marguerite at La Rochelle, the daughter of Jean Petit and Jeanne Gaudreau.¹ Orphaned as a young girl, she came to New France in 1672 at about sixteen years of age as one of the King’s Daughters.²

She married François Séguin dit Laderoute at Boucherville on 31 October 1672.³ Their marriage contract had been executed the previous month before the notary Frérot, and both bride and groom signed the document.²

François Séguin had previously served as a soldier in the Carignan-Salières Regiment, the force sent to Canada between 1665 and 1667 to secure the colony; after his service he settled as a habitant.⁴

The parish registers of Boucherville and Pointe-aux-Trembles record the baptisms of their children:

  • Marie-Françoise, baptized 1 November 1674
  • Marie-Madeleine, baptized 16 August 1676
  • Marie-Jeanne, baptized 9 August 1680
  • Pierre, baptized 24 August 1682
  • Simon, baptized 24 September 1684
  • Jean-Baptiste, baptized 10 November 1688
  • Geneviève
  • Joseph
  • another Joseph

Several of the children died young.²

François Séguin was buried at Montréal on 9 May 1704.³ In the will of Pierre de Saint-Ours he was left a gift of fifty livres, which passed instead to his children because he predeceased the testator.²

Jeanne Françoise Petit died 29 March 1733 and was buried the following day at Longueuil.³

Her marriage in 1672 and the large family that followed are typical of the young women who came to the colony under royal sponsorship and formed households in the seigneurial settlements along the St. Lawrence.²

Sources

  1. Upper Brittany, France, Births and Baptisms, 1501–1907, baptism of Jeanne Françoise Petit, 19 Jan 1656, Sainte-Marguerite, La Rochelle.
  2. Peter J. Gagné, King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi, 1663–1673 (Pawtucket, R.I.: Quintin Publications, 2001), 451–52, Jeanne Petit; Yves Landry, Les Filles du roi au XVIIe siècle (Montréal: Leméac, 1992), table entry for Jeanne Petit.
  3. Québec (Canada), Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), marriage of Jeanne Petit and François Séguin dit Laderoute, 31 Oct 1672, Boucherville; baptisms of their children; burial of Jeanne Petit, 30 Mar 1733, Longueuil; see also Cyprien Tanguay, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes, s.v. “Séguin.”
  4. The Carignan-Salières Regiment (1665–1667), for the service of François Séguin dit Laderoute.

Anne Talbot

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Anne Talbot was born 31 July 1651 and baptized the following day in the parish of Saint-Maclou in Rouen, Normandy, the daughter of Eustache Talbot, a master brewer, and Marie de Lalande.¹

She came to New France in 1670 at about nineteen years of age. Yves Landry notes that she brought with her goods valued at 300 livres for her dowry and received the King’s gift of 50 livres. He also records a marriage contract dated 13 September 1670 before the notary Becquet for a proposed marriage to Jean Barolleau which was later annulled, and that she did not know how to sign her name.²

She married Jean Gareau dit Saint-Onge at Boucherville on 2 November 1670.³ A marriage contract for the couple had been executed the previous month before the notary Frérot.² Gagné identifies Jean Gareau as a native of La Rochelle, the son of Dominique Gareau and Marie Pinard.⁴

The couple established their household at Boucherville, where the parish registers record their children over nearly three decades:

  • Marie, baptized 10 November 1671
  • Pierre, baptized 1 May 1673
  • Anne, baptized 6 January 1675
  • Madeleine, baptized 15 March 1677
  • Prudent, baptized 18 September 1678 and buried 20 September 1678
  • Jean, baptized 3 November 1679
  • Jacques, baptized 26 February 1682
  • Dominique, baptized 30 January 1684
  • François, baptized 14 February 1686
  • Anne, buried 24 November 1687
  • Marguerite, baptized 18 April 1692
  • Marie-Louise, baptized 27 April 1693
  • Suzanne, baptized 8 March 1695
  • Geneviève, baptized 16 May 1698⁵

Jean Gareau was buried at Boucherville on 6 June 1713.⁵

Anne Talbot died there on 4 August 1740 and was buried in the parish of Sainte-Famille at Boucherville.⁵

Her life in New France is documented in the parish and notarial records of Boucherville from the time of her marriage in 1670 until her burial in 1740.

Sources

  1. Parish register of Saint-Maclou, Rouen, for the baptism of Anne Talbot.
  2. Yves Landry, Les Filles du roi au XVIIe siècle (Montréal: Leméac, 1992), 217, Anne Talbot.
  3. Québec (Canada), Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), marriage of Anne Talbot and Jean Gareau dit Saint-Onge, 2 Nov 1670.
  4. Peter J. Gagné, The King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers (Pawtucket, RI: Quintin Publications, 2001), entry for Anne Talbot.
  5. Québec (Canada), Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), baptisms and burials of the children of Jean Gareau and Anne Talbot; burial of Jean Gareau, 6 June 1713; burial of Anne Talbot, 4 Aug 1740; see also Cyprien Tanguay, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes, s.v. “Gareau.”

Filles du Roi and filles à marier

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Filles du Roi and filles à marier

As the research moves back into the earliest French-Canadian generations, a number of the women in these families are identified in parish records and in modern compiled sources as either filles à marier or Filles du Roi. Those are historical terms, and they describe two different waves of female immigration to New France.

Understanding the difference helps place these marriages in their proper historical setting.

Filles à marier

The phrase fille à marier simply means “a marriageable woman.” In a genealogical context it is used for women who came to New France before 1663, prior to the royal immigration program.

These women were not sent by the Crown. Their passage might be paid by relatives already in the colony, by an employer, by a religious community, or through a private arrangement. What they have in common is that they arrived unmarried and married soon after their arrival.

They are found in the earliest parish registers of Québec and Montréal, at a time when the European population of the colony was still very small and the establishment of families was essential to permanent settlement.

When a woman in these early generations is described as a fille à marier, it is not a title that appears in the original parish record. It is a modern research designation based on her date of arrival, her marital status at that time, and the historical context in which the marriage took place.

Filles du Roi

The Filles du Roi — the “King’s Daughters” — came later, between 1663 and 1673.

By that time the French government had decided to actively promote population growth in the colony. The Crown paid for the passage of approximately 800 women and provided each of them with a dowry. In many cases they were also given a trousseau — a small outfit of clothing and household linens — so that they could establish a household after marriage.

Unlike the earlier filles à marier, these women are often documented as part of a specific immigration program. Their status can be confirmed through a combination of sources: parish registers, notarial marriage contracts, royal accounts, and later compiled studies that identify the participants in the program.

Most married within a short time of their arrival, and their marriages are concentrated in the parishes along the St. Lawrence River during that ten-year period.

Why these designations appear in this research

The population of early New France was small, and a large proportion of later French-Canadian families descend from these women — often multiple times.

As a result, it is not unusual to encounter both filles à marier and Filles du Roi in the same ancestral lines. Their identification in these posts is not a general historical label; it is based on the available documentation for each individual woman.

In practical terms, the designation tells us something important for the timeline:

  • a fille à marier indicates a marriage in the colony before 1663
  • a Fille du Roi places the arrival and marriage within the royal program of 1663–1673

That information helps explain when a particular couple first appears in the parish records and places the family in the early development of the colony.

I have a combined 17 ancestors who were either filles à marier or Filles du Roi. They are:

  • Marie Jeanne Oudin
  • Anne Talbot
  • Suzanne Betfer (Betford)
  • Jeanne Françoise Petit
  • Louise Bercier
  • Marguerite Charlot
  • Marie Lorgueil
  • Perrine Lapierre
  • Marie Madeleine Raclos
  • Antoinette DeLiercourt
  • Marie Marguerite Jourdain
  • Catherine Charles
  • Françoise Marthe Barton
  • Françoise Cure
  • Madeleine Chrétien
  • Catherine Forestier
  • Marthe Arnu