|
A large number
of those who left France to go to the colony departed from La Rochelle
or Rochefort. These ports were important transitory places not only
for the inhabitants of the region, but for people coming from all over
France. |
|
Indeed, a lot of people boarded there in the XVIIth and the XVIIIth centuries, in order to get a land, to find some work, or simply to join their family already settled in Canada. The fur trade, the easy acess to ownership, attracted entire family overthere. |
|
Some
migrants would have signed up a contract and would usually go for 3
years as engaged people. Some would go freely with hope for
a better life. These are the “settlers” or “free settlers”,
who would usually go with their families and settle for good. Others
too, like the soldiers and the “King’s daughters”
were sent by the State. The “King’s daughters” were
actually young and poor orphan girls, who were sent to Canada as there
were not enough women there, in order to marry the settlers and grow
the population. |
|
