Person:Anne LeSeigneur (1)

On 3 July 1668, Antoine Adhemar dit Saint-Martin, himself a former member of the Sorel Company, was at Fort Saint-Louis to draw up his first notarial act, the marriage contract between Jean Besset, "soldier at present living at Fort St. Louis" and Anne le Seigneur. The notary did not record the names of the groom's father and mother.

As for the bride, Anne le Seigneur was a native of the parish of Saint-Maclou in Rouen, Normandy and daughter of the late Guillaume and of Marguerite Serre. She was selected as a "fille du roi" (daughter of the King). The filles du roi were part of King Louis XIV's program to promote the settlement of his colony in Canada. Some 770 women arrived in the colony of New France between 1663 and 1673, under the financial sponsorship of the King. Most were single French women and many were orphans and young widows. Their transportation to Canada and settlement in the colony were paid for by the King. Some were given a royal gift of a dowry of 50 livres for their marriage to one of the many unmarried male colonists in Canada. These gifts are reflected in some of the marriage contracts entered into by the filles du roi. Exceptions to the 50 livres rule were revealed by the historian and demographer Yves Landry, who observed that "Only 250 of the 606 marriage contracts made by les Filles du roi, that is 41 per cent, carry any mention of a dowry granted by the king. In relation to the entire group of Filles du roi, this number shows that less than one third of the immigrants of the period from 1663 - 1673 really benefited from the royal favour granted to newly weds."

The marriage contract of Jean Besset and Anne le Seigneur does not mention a dowry nor the gift of 50 livres from the king. The squire Jacques D'Harcinval, nobleman and an officer in the regiment, acted as witness in her favor. He was also from her native town, Rouen. Jean-Baptiste de Poitiers, Sieur du Buisson. a soldier from Picardy in the Chambly Company, was the best man for Jean Besset dit Brisetout, his companion-in-arms.