Marin HURTUBISE was born in 1633 at Roeze-sur-Sarthe, Le Mans, Maine, France; the son of Andre HURTUBISE and Renee HERMANGE. Marin arrived in New France sometime prior to 1660. Antionette Etienette Alton was born on November 13, 1638 at St. Thomas de la Flèche, Le Mans, Sarthe, France; the daughter of Francoise ALTON and Antionette BARILLAY. She arrived in Quebec as a Filles A Marier, contracted to Marin Hurtubise. They were married on January 7, 1660 in Montreal and had six children before Marin's death on May 12, 1672.

The Filles a Marier 1634-1662
Most of us are familiar with the story of the King's Daughters or Fille Du Roi; the state sponsored program that brought almost 800 single women to Quebec in the early days of the French settlement, but what is not so well known is the story of the Fille a Marier. Between 1634 and 1662; 262 young ladies, including Antionette Alton braved the elements to begin an uncertain future in the backwoods of Canada.

When the Company of 100 Associates began their settlement scheme, their plan of recruiting only families proved to be too costly, so instead they signed on single men; tradesman and labourers; who would be indentured for three years. However, this meant that more than 80% of the colonists were men, so even if they decided to stay at the end of their term, there was little hope of them starting a family, unless they chose a Canadian girl. But, since her family would never allow her, or her children, to leave their village; the company directors needed to avoid this from happening.

So instead, they began recruiting "marriagable young girls", who would first sign a contract in France and then be given passage and a small dowry to become the wife of a Quebec settler. You might wonder why these young girls (many under 16), would risk the dangers and hardships, which by now most of France were well aware of; but believe it or not; for many it was the best option.

At the time, marriages were arranged, so if the girl's family did not have the means to provide a sutable dowry, her only option was to become a nun, if she was Catholic; or marry beneath her station. In the case of the young Filles a Marier, though a marriage contract must be signed before departure, she had every right to refuse the union, once she met her husband-to-be. As a matter of fact, many of them did just that, and were provided safe passage home. Later, critics of the plan tried to say that all the girls were prostitutes taken off the streets of Paris, but this was rarely, if ever, the case. Most settled down, raised families and formed the roots of many French-Canadian families. Click here to see a list of Filles a Marier.

Marin and Antionette's gggggg grandson, Joseph "Rene" LEFEBVRE apparently had a fleeting relationship with Euphemia SAUNDERS resulting in a daughter Jean being born out of wedlock in Port Elgin on November 24, 1915. Jean was adopted by Daunt and Louisa METCALFE of Greenock Township, Bruce County and they named their chosen daughter Florence Mae METCALFE.