Denise Lemaistre a Fille du Roi with a Dowry Including Trade Linens

 

Thinking about Denise Lemaistre a Fille du Roi “with a dowry including trade linens.”

I initiated a conversation with Gemini, Q: what can you tell me about a Fille du Roi with dowry including trade linens?

The Filles du Roi (King's Daughters) were approximately 800 young French women recruited between 1663 and 1673 to immigrate to New France (modern-day Quebec) to balance the colony's male-heavy population. To incentivize this move, King Louis XIV acted as their "father," providing a royal dowry and a trousseau of essential goods. 

The phrase "dowry including trade linens" specifically refers to the practical goods provided to these women to establish households in the wilderness. 

Components of the Dowry & Trousseau

While the term "trade linens" specifically highlights textiles, the women received a comprehensive package of both financial and material goods: 

• Trade Linens & Sewing Supplies: Each woman received a hope chest containing cloth fine enough for handkerchiefs, collars, and sleeves. Crucially, they were provided with a sewing kit featuring 100 needles, thread (white and grey), a thimble, scissors, and many pins.
• Clothing & Personal Items: The trousseau included a comb, two coiffes (hoods), a belt, hose, shoes, gloves, a bonnet, and shoelaces.
• Monetary Grant: Most received a cash dowry of 50 livres (pounds), though some women of higher social standing received up to 100 or 200 livres.
• Household Provisions: Upon marriage, couples often received additional "in-kind" dowries to start a farm, including an ox, a cow, two pigs, a pair of chickens, and barrels of salted meat. 

Context of the "Trade Linens"

The inclusion of linens and sewing tools was vital because such items were nearly impossible to obtain on the shores of the St. Lawrence River at the time. These materials were considered "trade" goods because they were high-value essentials that enabled the women to fulfill their expected roles of clothing their families and maintaining a household in a remote colony. 

Historical Significance

• Success of the Colony: Within a decade of their arrival, the population of New France doubled.
• Ancestry: It is estimated that two-thirds of all French Canadians today can trace their ancestry back to at least one Fille du Roi.
• Standardization: Because they came from various regions of France and were often educated in charitable institutions, they played a key role in standardizing the French language in Canada. 

Q: Can you add anything more to this excerpt, found in a transcription and translation, from La Prairie en Nouvelle-France, 1647-1760 by Louis Lavallée (Pages 144-159):

LEMAISTRE (Denise Lemaistre, 1636-1691)

"Denise Lemaistre, wife of Pierre Perras, co-managed lot 7's trade activities post-1670, with dowry including trade linens. Her 1691 inventory lists fur debts owed by Boyer kin, showing women's indirect roles in credit networks."

Context in the Book:

In gender dynamics (p. 156), as a Fille du Roi whose assets bolstered family trade resilience.

A: According to Louis Lavallée’s "La Prairie en Nouvelle-France, 1647-1760", Denise Lemaistre (c.1636–1691) exemplified how women in La Prairie used their dowries and trade management to wield economic influence. The book uses her case to illustrate women's formal and informal economic roles in the frontier seigneury. More information is available on UTP Distribution.

Q: What other items were in the hope chests of the Filles du Roi?

A: In addition to trade linens, the hope chests (or trousseaus) of the Filles du Roi contained a highly standardized set of practical and personal items necessary for survival and domestic life in New France. These items were often referred to as "casquettes" or "trousseaus" and were provided at the King's expense. 

The chest's contents typically included:

Sewing and Household Tools

Crucial for making and mending clothing in a colony where such supplies were scarce: 

• Sewing Kit: Included approximately 100 needles, a thimble, a needle case, and a large quantity of white and grey thread.
• Pins: Each chest contained about 1,000 pins.
• Cutting Tools: A pair of scissors and two knives.
• Textiles: Fine cloth for making handkerchiefs, collars, wimples, and pleated sleeves. 

Personal Accessories and Clothing

These items were difficult to find on the shores of the St. Lawrence River:

• Headwear: One bonnet and two coiffes (hoods)—one made of taffeta and the other of gauze.
• Footwear: A pair of shoes, shoelaces, and a pair of hose (stockings).
• Personal Care: A comb and a pair of gloves.
• Finishing Touches: A belt, a taffeta handkerchief, shoe ribbons, and four sets of laces or lace braids. 

Monetary and Additional Provisions

• Travel Funds: A small amount of cash, often 2 livres in silver money, for use during the journey or upon arrival.
• Climate Adaptation: Upon arrival in Quebec, the Sovereign Council often provided additional clothing suitable for the harsh Canadian climate and basic food provisions from the King’s storehouses. 

Once a Fille du Roi married, the couple typically received a larger "settlement dowry" to establish a farm, which included livestock (an ox, a cow, two pigs, and chickens) and barrels of salted meat. 

Q: What challenges did the Filles du Roi face in New France?

A: The Filles du Roi faced significant challenges upon arriving in New France, including a difficult sea voyage, harsh environmental conditions, difficult agricultural labor, the pressure to marry quickly, and the general dangers of life in a frontier colony. 

Physical and Environmental Challenges

• Perilous Journey: The transatlantic voyage itself was dangerous, with cramped, unsanitary conditions, the risk of sickness, and potential death during the weeks at sea.
• Harsh Climate: The women, many of whom came from the urban areas of Paris and Rouen, were largely unprepared for the extreme cold of the Canadian winters. They were often ill-equipped in terms of proper clothing for survival.
• Difficult Labor: Most Filles du Roi were from cities and unaccustomed to manual farm work. They had to adapt quickly to the demanding physical labor required to establish and run a household and farm in the wilderness.
• Isolation and Danger: The settlements were isolated, and colonists lived with the constant fear of Iroquois raids, which were a significant threat to life and safety. 

Social and Personal Challenges

• Pressure to Marry: The primary purpose of their recruitment was to balance the gender ratio and populate the colony. They were housed by nuns or established families until they married, and while they had the right to refuse suitors, there was intense pressure to find a husband quickly.
• Limited Agency: Though given a choice of husband, their lives were largely orchestrated by the state as instruments of imperial policy. After marriage, they fell under their husbands' legal authority, with few options like divorce if the marriage failed.
• Slander: The program generated controversy, and the women were sometimes slandered as being of questionable moral standing or even prostitutes by critics of the program, a historical myth that has since been debunked.
• Childbirth: The women were expected to have many children to boost the colony's population and faced the risks of frequent childbirth in the 17th century, a time with limited medical care. 

Q: What are some famous descendants of the Filles du Roi?

A: Many contemporary celebrities and notable figures can trace their ancestry back to the courageous Filles du Roi, as an estimated two-thirds of all French-Canadians have at least one Fille du Roi as a direct ancestor. 

Famous descendants include:

• Angelina Jolie: The actress is a descendant of Denise Colin.
• Hillary Clinton: The former U.S. Secretary of State and presidential candidate traces her lineage to two Filles du Roi: Madeleine Niel and Jeanne Ducorps dite Leduc.
• Madonna: The pop icon is a descendant of Anne Le Seigneur.
• Jack Kerouac: The influential Beat Generation author has Filles du Roi in his family tree.
• Chloë Sevigny: The actress's ancestry was explored on the PBS series Finding Your Roots, where her descent from Marguerite Lamain was confirmed.
• Tom Bergeron: The television host discovered his lineage to Marguerite Ardion on the show Who Do You Think You Are?.
• Saint André Bessette: Known as "Brother Andre," the first canonized male saint of Canada is also a descendant of Anne Le Seigneur, making him a distant cousin of Madonna.
• Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion: The Hall of Fame ice hockey player was a direct descendant of Marie Priault. 

Filles du Roi in our Family Tree:

Madeleine Carbonnet m. Étienne Sédilot dit Desnoyers, Aug. 11, 1664

Marie-Reine Charpentier m. 1) Louis Prinseau Jul. 28, 1672; m. 2) Étienne Domingo dit Carabi, Aug. 26, 1681

Louise Charrier m. Guillaume Baret Nov. 19, 1663

Jeanne Denot m. 1) André Robidou Jun. 7, 1667; m. 2) Jacques Surprenant dit Sanssoucy Aug. 16, 1678

Anne LeBer (Leper) m. François Pinsonnault dit Lafleur, 1673

Jacquette Michel m. Andre Mignier dit Lagacé Oct. 23, 1668

Anne Pineau dit La Vieville  m. Gilles Gaudreau Oct. 15, 1671

Georgette Richer m. François Dupuis Oct. 6, 1670

Anne Roy m. Jean Rodrigue Oct. 28, 1671

Marguerite Ténard m. Charles Boyer Nov. 23, 1666

Denise Lemaistre m. Pierre Peras dit La Fontaine, Jan 26, 1660

Thank you to Gemini AI for the conversation and answers.