The women disembarked in Quebec
City, Trois-Rivières, and Montreal. When the women arrived in New France, the
amount of time it took them to find husbands varied greatly. For some, it was
as short as a few months, while others took two or three years before finding
an appropriate husband. When it came to choosing a husband, and the actual
marriage, most couples would officially get engaged in church, with their
priest and witnesses present. Then, some couples went in front of the notary,
to sign a marriage contract. Marriages were then celebrated by the priest,
usually in the woman’s parish of residence. While the marriage banns usually
had to be published three times before the wedding could take place, the
colony’s need for women to marry quickly led to very few Files du roi actually
having marriage banns announced. We know that 737 of these Files du roi were
married in New France.
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