New France › Filles du Roi
Les Filles du Roi
Ten King’s Daughters in the LaFlamme-McInnis Ancestry
Between 1663 and 1673, the French Crown sponsored roughly 770–800 young women to cross the Atlantic and settle in New France. Known as the Filles du Roi — the King’s Daughters — they married settlers, bore children, and built the colony’s population. Today, approximately two-thirds of modern Québécois descend from them. Ten of these women appear in Carl’s verified ancestry.
10
King’s Daughters
1663–1671
Arrival Span
4
From Paris
~70
Combined Children
The Program: What Were the Filles du Roi?
By the early 1660s, New France faced a demographic crisis. Men outnumbered women six to one. Without families, the colony could not grow. King Louis XIV and his minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert devised a solution: recruit young women — orphans, daughters of tradesmen, minor nobles — and send them to Canada at royal expense, with dowries from the Crown.
Each woman received passage across the Atlantic and a trousseau typically containing a comb, shoelaces, pins, bonnet, stockings, gloves, ribbons, thread, needles, and 100 livres from the King. Some brought additional personal assets. Upon arrival, the women chose husbands — usually within weeks. Marriages were strongly encouraged; bachelors who refused to marry faced fines and loss of trading rights.
The program transformed the colony. In a single decade, the population of New France roughly doubled. The Filles du Roi are the matriarchs of French Canada.
The Ten King’s Daughters
Catherine Fièvre
1663★ One of the very first Filles du Roi ever sent — Year 1 of the program.
★ Neighbor of Françoise Durand at both Sainte-Famille and Saint-François across decades.
Madeleine Niel
1667★ Hillary Clinton descends through daughter Hélène Charles (b. 1678); Carl descends through daughter Catherine Charles (b. 1674).
★ Her husband was a Carignan-Salières Regiment soldier — the elite force sent to defend New France.
Anne Perrault
1669★ After Anne’s death in 1688, Pierre Blais married Françoise Beaudoin — daughter of Françoise Durand (FdR #117). Carl descends from BOTH Filles du Roi through Pierre Blais.
Madeleine Groleau
1669★ After her husband’s death in 1701, Madeleine became a donnée (lay worker) at the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec.
★ Part of the ship Noir network connecting multiple families in Carl’s ancestry.
Nicole Saulnier
1669★ Brought goods worth 250 livres plus a 50 livre royal gift — the daughter of a master cooper.
★ Île d’Orléans neighbor of Françoise Durand and Catherine Fièvre.
Charlotte Joly
1669★ Left for Canada after her father’s death at age 21. Received King’s Gift of 50 livres.
★ Île d’Orléans neighbor alongside Françoise Durand and Catherine Fièvre.
Jeanne Fressel
1670★ Wealthiest of Carl’s 10 Filles du Roi — brought goods worth 800 livres plus a 50 livre royal gift (850 livres total).
★ Her husband was named sheriff’s officer by Bishop Laval himself, then served as judge.
Françoise Durand
1671★ Fille du Roi #117 on Yves Landry’s definitive list. Carl’s direct maternal-line ancestor.
★ Poorest of the 10 — orphan, illiterate, no dowry, no assets. Arrived aboard La Nouvelle France, July 31, 1670.
★ Subject of the 20,000+ word historical novel on this site.
Marie-Jeanne Caillé
1671★ Her husband Jacques Pépin was born in Trois-Rivières — one of the few Canadian-born men to marry a Fille du Roi.
★ Lived to age 81, among the longest-lived of Carl’s Filles du Roi.
Catherine Clérice
1671★ Brought goods worth 200 livres plus a 50 livre royal gift.
★ Her husband Jacques Lussier drowned at Sorel on June 12, 1713.
★ Jacques had previously married Fille du Roi Charlotte Lamunche — one of two men in Carl’s tree who married two King’s Daughters.
Wealth Comparison
The Filles du Roi came from vastly different circumstances. Jeanne Fressel arrived with 850 livres — enough to buy a small farm outright. Françoise Durand arrived with nothing.
| Name | Assets Brought | Royal Dowry | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeanne Fressel | 800 livres | 50 livres | 850 livres |
| Nicole Saulnier | 250 livres | 50 livres | 300 livres |
| Catherine Clérice | 200 livres | 50 livres | 250 livres |
| Charlotte Joly | — | 50 livres | 50 livres |
| Catherine Fièvre | — | — | — |
| Madeleine Niel | — | — | — |
| Anne Perrault | — | — | — |
| Madeleine Groleau | — | — | — |
| Marie-Jeanne Caillé | — | — | — |
| Françoise Durand | — | — | Nothing |
The Pierre Blais Connection
Pierre Blais married two women connected to the Filles du Roi program, linking both lines into Carl’s ancestry.
Anne Perrault
Fille du Roi · arrived 1669
Pierre Blais
Settler, Île d’Orléans
Françoise Beaudoin
Daughter of Françoise Durand (FdR #117)
Carl
Descends from both Filles du Roi through Pierre Blais
Community Connections
Ship Noir Network
Jacques Baudouin (husband of Françoise Durand), Pierre Campagna, Mathias Campagna, and Louis Marchand (father of Madeleine Groleau’s husband) all arrived on the Noir, May 25, 1664. These men formed a tight-knit community that persisted for decades.
Île d’Orléans Neighbors
Françoise Durand, Catherine Fièvre & Charles Allaire, Nicole Saulnier & Jean Brochu, and Charlotte Joly & Antoine Drapeau all lived on Île d’Orléans. Catherine Fièvre followed the same parish trajectory as Françoise — Sainte-Famille then Saint-François.
Two Men, Two Filles du Roi
Pierre Blais married Anne Perrault (FdR, d. 1688), then Françoise Beaudoin (daughter of Françoise Durand, FdR #117). Jacques Lussier married Charlotte Lamunche (FdR), then Catherine Clérice (FdR). Both men connect Carl to multiple King’s Daughters.
Carignan-Salières Regiment
Madeleine Niel’s husband Étienne Charles dit Lajeunesse arrived in 1665 as a soldier in the elite Carignan-Salières Regiment, sent to defend New France against the Haudenosaunee. Many Carignan soldiers stayed, received land grants, and married Filles du Roi.
Shared Ancestry: Hillary Clinton
Carl and Hillary Clinton are approximately 8th–9th cousins, sharing at least 11 confirmed ancestors through the founding population of New France. All connections documented through PRDH/Nos Origines and published genealogies.
| Shared Ancestor | Born | From | Carl’s Gen | Clinton’s Gen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jean Guyon du Buisson + Mathurine Robin | 1592 / ~1596 | Tourouvre, Perche | ~10–11 | 12 |
| Gaspard Boucher + Nicole Lemaire | 1599 / 1595 | Mortagne, Perche | ~11 | 12 |
| Étienne Charles + Madeleine Niel (FdR) | 1643 / ~1651 | Paris / Rouen | ~12 | 11 |
| Jean Doyon + Marthe Gagnon | 1619 / ~1636 | La Rochelle / Perche | ~13 | 11 |
| Mathurin Gagnon | 1606 | Tourouvre, Perche | ~14 | 12 |
| Pierre Gagnon + Renée-Madeleine Roger | 1572 / ~1580 | Tourouvre, Perche | ~15 | 13 |
Through Madeleine Niel
Carl descends via daughter Catherine Charles (b. 1674) through the Bissonnette line. Hillary Clinton descends via daughter Hélène Charles (b. 1678) through the Viau → Pilet → Detroit → Howell → Clinton line. Sisters’ descendants reunited by genealogy 350 years later.
All three shared founding families came from the Perche — Tourouvre and Mortagne — the region that sent more settlers per capita to New France than any other.
Sources: Moreau-DesHarnais & Sheppard, Michigan’s Habitant Heritage (2007, best article of year). Gary Boyd Roberts, NEHGS (2008). FamousKin.com ahnentafel #15627. CBC News (Nov 6, 2016). Perche-Quebec.com.
The Churches Where They Married
Historical Context
Sources
- • Yves Landry, Les Filles du roi au XVIIe siècle (1992) — definitive list and biographies
- • Marcel Gagné, biographies in Nos Origines
- • Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH), Université de Montréal
- • Drouin Institute, parish registers and notarial records
- • Census of New France, 1666, 1667, 1681