{"id":16564,"date":"2015-06-03T17:11:42","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T21:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/?p=16564"},"modified":"2019-04-07T13:49:28","modified_gmt":"2019-04-07T17:49:28","slug":"a-rich-kings-daughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/a-rich-kings-daughter\/","title":{"rendered":"A rich Kings\u2019 daughter"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Kings\u2019 daughters (Filles du Roi<\/em>) who came to Canada between 1663 and 1673 under are often described as poor, orphaned or prostitutes.<\/p>\n

Yet my ancestor Catherine Clerice doesn\u2019t seem to fit that description.<\/p>\n

Catherine was indeed recruited by Louis XIV\u2019s team and she did indeed get a dowry of 50 livres from the King. Her goods also included an additional 250 livres of her own money, which would have purchased 10 arpents of land in New France at that time if Gerry Lalonde is to be believed.<\/p>\n

So why did she leave her family, her friends and everything she knew at only 18 years old? It may have been a strong sense of adventure, a lack of prospects, a sense of duty or just a momentary teenage impulse with long-lasting consequences.<\/p>\n

Whatever her incentive, she left La Rochelle, France in June 1671 on a 300 ton ship known as the St. Jean-Baptiste.<\/p>\n

The ships were very crowded and sanitation was not top priority.\u00a0 Disease was common among the women as bacteria and germs spread quickly among the crowded and filthy conditions.\u00a0 Food was a scarce commodity on the voyage as three months was too long to keep perishable foods such as fruit, vegetables, and meat from spoiling.\u00a0 Physical conditions on the voyage were terrible, but the girls on the ship also felt a great psychological burden during their passage.\u00a0 These were very young women who left their families, their country, and most of their belongings behind in order to go to a completely new world.\u00a0 Fear of the unknown left many of them uncertain about their future and even their survival.”[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She arrived in Quebec on August 15, 1671.<\/p>\n

Within six weeks, she was betrothed to Jacques Lussier. Their contract \u201cmarriage act\u201d was written by Romain Becquet on October 4, 1671 and the home of Anne Gasnier, who was a Kings Daughters\u2019 patron.<\/p>\n

The couple joined another nine couples to be married at Notre-Dame de Quebec on October 12. Toussaint Dubeau, Louis Denis dit Lafontaine and Rene Dumas witnessed their wedding. The first parish priest of Quebec, Henri de Bernieres, officiated.<\/p>\n

Together, they had twelve children, including my own ancestor Louise.<\/p>\n

The couple remained in Varennes, Quebec until both died.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Jerry DeKeyser, the property of Jacques Lussier was divided up after he died.<\/p>\n

At that time, upon the death of one of the parents, the law obliged the survivor to have an inventory taken by a notary and to carry out the division of the property. On 13 March 1713, Catherine Clerice gathered her family before notary Adhemar and witnesses; she had the list of property, left by her late husband. All the furniture and real estate were written down on paper: the two tin chandeliers, the small earthen ware plates, the iron grill with seven bars, the very ornate wardrobe of Jacques Lussier, the farm with four arpents of frontage on which lived two oxen, four milk cows, three calves, three horses, and so forth. Then followed the deeds, papers and instructions. The ancestor had nearly 3,000 livres in ready cash, a fortune for that time.<\/p>\n

Two days later, the Lussier family, very united, and very respectful to their mother, held a house auction. The disposable things were sold according to the best offer from the heirs and according to its portion of the inheritance. The paternal house and all that was necessary for her subsistence were left to Catherine Clerice.<\/p>\n

The ordeal was too much. Ancestress Lussier, at the age of 68, went to join her husband on the first of March 1715. The pastor of Sainte Anne de Varennes, Canadian born Abbot Claude Volant de Saint-Claude, signed the registry after two witnesses; Jacques Girard and Jean Charbonneau.”[2]<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[1]<\/a> By Sarah Gahagan on her report \u201cLes Filles Du Roi\u201d at http:\/\/www.fawi.net\/ezine\/vol3no4\/FASWST2003\/Gahagan.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> DeKeyser, Jerry C. “Genealogical Details For: Jacques Lussier, B. 1646\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0d. Abt Oct 1712 — Ancestors and Descendants of the DeKeyser and Related Families.” Genealogical Details For: Jacques Lussier, B. 1646\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0d. Abt Oct 1712 — Ancestors and Descendants of the DeKeyser and Related Families. 2013. Accessed May 27, 2015. http:\/\/www.cs.iusb.edu\/~dekeyser\/familytree\/vft_indpage.php?idno=4491<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Kings\u2019 daughters (Filles du Roi) who came to Canada between 1663 and 1673 under are often described as poor, orphaned or prostitutes. Yet my ancestor Catherine Clerice doesn\u2019t seem to fit that description. Catherine was indeed recruited by Louis XIV\u2019s team and she did indeed get a dowry of 50 livres from the King. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[100],"tags":[721,720,719],"class_list":["post-16564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genealogy-ensemble-history-worth-remembering","tag-catherine-clerice","tag-filles-du-roi","tag-kings-daughters","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2buQs-4ja","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18910,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/the-kings-daughters\/","url_meta":{"origin":16564,"position":0},"title":"The Kings’ Daughters: They came to populate New France*","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"November 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"As she boarded the great ship Pho\u00e9nix de Flessingue in May 1663, Catherine Barr\u00e9 knew she would never return to her hometown of La Rochelle, France. Did she worry about the ship sinking? Would pirates attack during the six-week journey overseas? What kind of life did she imagine might be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Genealogy Ensemble"","block_context":{"text":"Genealogy Ensemble","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/history-worth-remembering\/genealogy-ensemble-history-worth-remembering\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Barre.jpg?fit=1200%2C173&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Barre.jpg?fit=1200%2C173&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Barre.jpg?fit=1200%2C173&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Barre.jpg?fit=1200%2C173&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Barre.jpg?fit=1200%2C173&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15489,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/joseph-dufours-farm\/","url_meta":{"origin":16564,"position":1},"title":"Joseph Dufour\u2019s Farm","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"December 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In the winter of 1749-1750, Jesuit Father Claude-Godefroi Coquart travelled through the Malbaie area of New France (now the province of Quebec) inspecting lands the King of France claimed. While there, he visited a farm called \"la Malbaie,\" which was run by my ancestor Joseph Dufour. Dufour appears in my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family History Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Family History Writing","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/history-worth-remembering\/family-history-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"profile your ancestor","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/History-Worth-Remembering.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/History-Worth-Remembering.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/History-Worth-Remembering.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/History-Worth-Remembering.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/History-Worth-Remembering.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15539,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/etiennette-alton\/","url_meta":{"origin":16564,"position":2},"title":"\u00c9tiennette Alton: A Marriageable Woman","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"February 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Business people, merchants and the church recruited 262 French woman who agreed to travel to New France and set up families with strangers before Louis IV decided to set up his \u201cfilles du Roi\u201d (daughters of the King) project in 1663. My ancestor \u00c9tiennette Alton was among these women, who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family History Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Family History Writing","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/history-worth-remembering\/family-history-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1131,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/louise_therese_lareau\/","url_meta":{"origin":16564,"position":3},"title":"Autumn in the life of Louise Th\u00e9r\u00e8se Lareau","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"January 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The final days of her pregnancy took place as the vibrant red of the maples formed a backdrop for the yellow leaves of the birch trees and the oranges of the oaks. She died as the leaves turned brown and fell. Three of her children died before her. How does\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family History Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Family History Writing","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/history-worth-remembering\/family-history-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1795_page_057.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1795_page_057.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1795_page_057.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1795_page_057.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16916,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/auteure-des-livres\/","url_meta":{"origin":16564,"position":4},"title":"Des livres en anglais qui ont \u00e9t\u00e9 traduits en fran\u00e7ais","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"November 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"J'\u00e9cris tous mes livres et chapitres en anglais, mais quelques uns d'entre eux ont \u00e9t\u00e9s traduits en fran\u00e7ais.","rel":"","context":"In "Communications en fran\u00e7ais"","block_context":{"text":"Communications en fran\u00e7ais","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/services\/communications-en-francais\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Aventures.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21970,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/the-great-recruitment-of-1653\/","url_meta":{"origin":16564,"position":5},"title":"The Great Volunteer Soldier Recruitment of 1653","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"May 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Next month marks 370 years since my six times great grandfather and his brother volunteered to join a militia to protect the city of Montreal. Their voyage from France to our city would last five months and require two departures. They faced captivity, an epidemic and enough starvation and illness\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Genealogy Ensemble"","block_context":{"text":"Genealogy Ensemble","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/history-worth-remembering\/genealogy-ensemble-history-worth-remembering\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Grand Recrue","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1024px-La_Grande_Recrue_de_1653.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1024px-La_Grande_Recrue_de_1653.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1024px-La_Grande_Recrue_de_1653.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1024px-La_Grande_Recrue_de_1653.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16564"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19630,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16564\/revisions\/19630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}