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Madeline Despres (b. 1653, d. 19 Dec 1712)
Madeline Despres (daughter of Francoise Despres and Madeleine LeGrand) was born 1653 in Paris, Seine, France, and died 19 Dec 1712 in St. Jean, Ile d'Orleans, Quebec. She married Nicolas Audet dit LaPointe on 15 Sep 1670 in St Jean, Ile D'Orleans, Quebec, son of Innocent Audet and Vincente Reine.
Notes for Madeline Despres:
She was one of the 768 "Filles du Roi” or Founding Mothers of New France (see below for the history), who came to Canada in 1670 at about age 17, bringing with her goods worth an estimated 200 livres for her dowry. She signed the marriage contract drawn up on 30 August by the notary Becquet, but her husband could not read or write and could not sign the contract. She received the King’s Gift of 50 livres upon their marriage. An inventory of the belongings of her late husband Nicolas was made by notary Etienne Jacob, on 27 September 1706 ( six years after his death?). It recorded seventy-five arpents of usable land, a nearby new house, measuring eighteen by twenty-four feet, a shed and a stable. Madeleine Després survived her husband for twelve years, and at her death, children Joachim and Marguerite were still unmarried. She died after three days of illness. She passed on her inheritance, by donation to her son Joseph. 72 She was buried beside Nicolas on 19 December 1712 at the age of fifty-six.
IMMIGRATION: 1670, Fille du Roi; at age 17, bringing with her goods worth an estimated 200 livres for her dowry. Received the King's Gift of 50 livres.
Marie married Nicolas Audet dit Lapointe, son of Innocent Audet dit Lapointe and Vicente Renée Roy, on 15 Sep 1670 in Ste-Famille, Île d'Orléans, Québec, Canada.1 2 3 (Nicolas Audet dit Lapointe was baptized on 12 Jul 1637 in St Pierre de Maulais, Poitiers, Poitou, France,1, died on 9 Dec 1700 in St-Jean, Île d'Orléans, Québec, Canada 1 and was buried on 10 Dec 1700 in St-Jean, Île d'Orléans, Québec, Canada 1 3.)
Marriage Events:
• Marriage Contract, 30 Aug 1670. Notary Becquet
Marriage Notes:
Nicolas and Madeleine had 122 descendants as of 31 Dec 1729. 4
Sources
1 Gagné, Peter J., King's Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi, 1663-1673 (Pawtucket, RI: Quinton Publications, 2001), page 215.
2 Institut Drouin, Dictionnaire National des Canadiens Français 1608-1760 (AFGS 1968), page 31.
3 Tanguay, Cyprien, Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Canadiennes, Vol 1, 1608-1700 (Global Heritage Press, 2001 with permission of la Société généalogique Canadienne-Française), page 17.
4 Gagné, Peter J., King's Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi, 1663-1673 (Pawtucket, RI: Quinton Publications, 2001), page 595.
Les Filles du Roi
The French term "Filles du Roi" translates literally as "the daughters of the King." Between 700 and perhaps 1,000 young, single women traveled to Quebec City, Trois Rivières, and Montréal from 1663 to 1673 as a part of a program managed by the Jesuits and funded by King Louis XIV.
These hardy immigrant women married and raised families. In fact, many of them raised large families in the tradition of the day. Many of their sons and daughters went on to also have large families, and so on and so forth for generations. As a result, millions of living people are descended from this group of pioneer women.
In the mid-1600s, most of the people arriving in what was then called New France were young French men intent on farming or fur trapping. Relatively few women traveled to the new land, which created a problem for these young men: there were very few women of marrying age.
As if the farmers and fur trappers didn't have enough competition finding wives, King Louis XIV sent almost 1,200 soldiers of the Carignan-Salières regiment to Québec in 1665 to fight the Iroquois Indians, who were aggressive and killed many settlers. The soldiers were deployed at strategic points of the territory to defend the colony and its residents. The regiment was successful, and a peace treaty with the Iroquois was signed on 10 July 1667. The Regiment then returned to France but left behind 400 soldiers and officers, aged between 19 and 30, who all agreed to remain in the country as settlers. With an additional 400 young men added to the colony, the marriage problems worsened. Jean Talon, intendant of New France, carried out the colony's first census. He recorded that the population was a bit more than 3,000, with 719 unmarried males and only 45 unmarried females living in the colony. This did not bode well for the future of the settlement.
In the custom of the day, the oldest daughter of a family in France received as large a dowry as possible from her parents to improve her chances of marriage. Dowries often included furniture, household articles, silver, land, or other inherited goods. Younger daughters of the same family typically received smaller dowries. Daughters of impoverished families often received no dowry at all, which reduced their chances of finding a suitable mate. These younger daughters were prime candidates for an opportunity in the New World.
Starting in 1663, the French government recruited eligible young French women who were willing to travel to New France to find husbands. The King of France offered to pay for transportation to New France of any eligible young woman. He also offered a dowry for each, to be awarded upon her marriage to a young Frenchman. Each woman's dowry typically consisted of 1 chest, 1 taffeta kerchief, 1 ribbon for shoes, 100 needles, 1 comb, 1 spool of 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 (French coins). Many also received chickens, pigs, and other livestock. Because the King of France paid the dowries instead of the parents, these women were referred to as the "Daughters of the King," or "Filles du Roi."
Their travels must have been difficult. In 1664, the Conseil Souverain reported to the French minister for the colonies, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, that sixty of the 300 people who embarked at La Rochelle the previous year had died at sea before reaching New France.
In France Madame Bourdon was made responsible for one hundred and fifty girls whom the king sent to New France in vessels from Normandy. She wrote that the young women in her charge gave her plenty of exercise during such a long voyage since they were of all kinds and conditions. Some were very badly brought up and very difficult to handle. Others were better bred and gave Mme. Bourdon more satisfaction.
There are many contradictory stories about the origins of these women. Some stories claim that they were mostly prostitutes who were forced onto ships in French harbors and sent to New France against their will. Other stories claim that these women were mostly recruited by Jesuits who insisted upon accepting only women of the finest moral character. The truth is probably somewhere between these two extremes. About 40 Daughters, called Daughters of Quality (filles de qualité), were from wealthy upper class families and had dowries of over 2000 French pounds. Several of the Daughters of Quality have provable descents from royalty.
On 27 October 1667, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Quebec intendant Jean Talon confirmed the recent arrival of the first young ladies. Jean Talon wrote:
Instead of the 50 that your despatch had me hope for, 84 young girls were sent from Dieppe and 25 from La Rochelle. There are fifteen or twenty from quite good families; several are real young ladies and quite well brought up…
The vast majority of the group was of French origin, although there were girls of other nationalities as well. According to the records of Marie de l' Incarnation, who knew many of these women, there were among them one Moor, one Portuguese, one German, and one Dutch woman.
Those who arrived safely usually found husbands within a few weeks. In fact, there are records of some of the young women marrying within days after their arrival in New France. Since many of them produced large families, hundreds of thousands - if not millions - of people in North America today can find one or more of these young women in their family tree
More About Madeline Despres and Nicolas Audet dit LaPointe:
Marriage: 15 Sep 1670, St Jean, Ile D'Orleans, Quebec.
Children of Madeline Despres and Nicolas Audet dit LaPointe are:
- +Pierre Audet dit LaPointe, b. 22 Jun 1674, Isle D'Orleans Quebec, d. 14 May 1715, Saint-Jean, MRC de L'Île-d'Orléans, Québec.

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