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"The Filles du Roi" 1663 -1673

     The story of the nearly 800 brave women sent from France to populate Quebec, by order of King Louis XIV is well known by most Canadians.  The King wanted to populate his colony as soon as possible.  To encourage his men to stay in New France after their term of duty, it became necessary to make available to the men unmarried women of good standing.       

Selected excerpts from Thomas Laforest' Our Canadian Forefathers - vol 1:

     In early days of the recruitment concentrated on girls with a good background and even a little education, suited for the military officers and men of property.  Also the initial recruits were mostly city girls from Paris and surrounding suburbs.  This did not work out too well.  A later call was to send out "strong, intelligent and beautiful girls of robust health, habituated to farm work."  

    . . . the bachelors wanted strong partners who could do their share of the work.  A not uncommon sight in those days before draft animals had be 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 Ile-de-France.

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