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« 1 chest, 1 taffeta kerchief, 1 ribbon for shoes, 100 needles, 1 comb, 1 white thread, 1 pair of stockings, 1 pair of gloves, 1 pair of scissors, 2 knives, about 1,000 pins, 1 bonnet, 4 laces and 2 silver livres. » Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, 1680. Items making up a boarder's trousseau. »
The term Filles du roi implies that these immigrants are the wards of Louis XIV and that as their protector, he assumes the duties of their natural father in taking care of them and providing them with a dowry. In New France, between 1663 and 1673, the question of dowries takes on a special importance since the authorities are going to urge, if not force men to marry them.
The conventional dowries of country girls are usually made up of furniture, household articles, silver, land or other inherited goods. Sometimes, to these items, which are identified in the marriage contract, is added a prospective inheritance. Under normal circumstances, whatever their sex, all of a couple's children have the right to an equal part of the family inheritance. Even the poorest of girls can count on goods that, even if they don't belong to her at the time of the engagement, will come, one day, to enrich the estate of the family that she is preparing to start.
In 1668, Jean Talon speaks of those among les Filles du roi, who harbour the expectation of a future inheritance:
« Among the girls sent here, there are some who have a legitimate and considerable claim to an inheritance from their parents, even among those who are drawn from l'Hôpital Général de Paris. »
The girls who arrived in 1663 had been endowed with 30 livres each. In 1664 and in 1665, they received the equivalent of 50 livres. The custom is established but there are times when it fails. Since the colonial authorities do not always have the money required, the dowry often takes the form of useful household articles or simply is not paid at all. That is what happened after the arrival of the last contingent of Filles du roi, in 1673:
« The custom was, wrote the governor, Frontenac, to Colbert on November 13, to give them fifty francs when they marry and one hundred to the young ladies; but since there were no funds left, I told those who married them that if any came that they would lose nothing ».
Exceptions to the 50 livres rule were revealed by the historian and demographer Yves Landry, who observed that « Only 250 of the 606 marriage contracts made by les Filles du roi, that is 41 per cent, carry any mention of a dowry granted by the king. In relation to the entire group of Filles du roi, this number shows that less than one third of the immigrants of the period from 1663 - 1673 really benefited from the royal favour granted to newly weds. Among those, only five received 100 livres and two a dowry of 200 livres ». |
