Filles du Roi

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Marguerite Lamain: Our pioneer ancestor on TV

To watch the full episode of “Finding Your Roots” on PBS click here More than a year ago I wrote a story about the Filles du Roi, Our French Canadian Matriarchs. Recently one of the Filles du Roi in the Gregoire/Granpre family tree, Marguerite Lamain, was featured in an episode of “Finding Your Roots” on PBS. During the show, actress, fashionista, and model, Chloë Sevigny, discovered that her French Canadian roots run deep in Quebec. Chloë’s 8th great grandmother, Marguerite...

Filles du Roi (Daughters of the King): Our French Canadian Matriarchs

“Rester, c’est exister; mais voyager, cest vivre.” “To stay is to exist; to travel is to live.” -Gustave Nadaud Between 1663 and 1673, some 770 young women arrived in the colony of New France with a mandate to marry and populate the land for France. These women, who came to be called the Filles du Roi (Daughters of the King), originated primarily from respectable poor families or orphanages. When offered the chance at a better life, they embraced the opportunity and became the mothers...