HISTORICAL EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE ON THIS DAY IN CANADA

5 April

Jean Colbert (1619-1683)

Louis XIV Introduces Baby Bonuses

There were many jokes in Canada when the system of "baby bonuses" was introduced in 1944. Nevertheless, it wasn't the first time it had happened in Canada. Louis XIV in augurated baby bonuses on April 5, 1669! A family with ten children received a pension of 300 livres a year, while twelve children were worth 400 livres.

There weren't many French people who were willing to settle in Canada. Most of those who came hoped to make some money and then return to their homeland. Louis XIV, his First Minister Colbert, and the great Intendant Talon realized that the population of Canada must be increased.

One of the first steps was to send out "King's Girls" to marry the bachelors in Canada. They were carefully chosen, mostly from the provinces of Normandy, Brittany and Picardy. City girls were apt to be lazy. Thomas B. Costain in The White and the Gold says: "The sturdy young inhabitants had no desire for wives of that type (city girls) , even though they might be prettier and trimmer than the broad-beamed candidates from the farms."

The King's Girls arrived in shiploads of one hundred or more, carefully chaperoned. They were displayed in halls while the bachelors looked them over. The girls could also question the men who were interested in them and find out about their homes, habits, and possessions. The bachelors in Three Rivers and Montreal complained a good deal because the Quebec boys got the first choice and they were left with the culls!

As soon as a boy and girl agreed to be married, the wedding ceremony took place. They were given an ox, cow, two pigs, a pair of chickens, two barrels of salted meat and a purse of eleven crowns.

There was no escape for the bachelors. Parents were fined if their sons were not married by the time they were twenty and their daughters when they were sixteen. They were hauled into court every six months until their children were married!

5 April

-1745    A New England force, led by William Pepperell, arrived at Canso on its way to attack Louisburg.

-1832    Brockville, Ontario, was incorporated as a town.

-1842    The Gesner Museum, the first public museum in Canada, opened in Saint John, N.B.

-1871    Prince Edward Island authorized the building of a railway.

-1891    The third Dominion Census showed the population as 4,833,239, an increase of 500,000 in ten years.

-1908    Edmonton installed one of the first dial telephone systems in North America.

-1958    Ripple Rock in Seymour Narrows, British Columbia was removed by the world's biggest non-atomic explosion.