In France, the 17th century was marked by several crises: famines, wars, popular uprisings... It was also the time of “La Fronde” during which villages were sacked. It was during this tumultuous time in history that the men of the Great Recruit of 1653 were enlisted. Men looking for a better future were tempted to sign up to go to New France. In all, 149 men enlisted to go to Ville-Marie (now Montreal); one hundred of them honoured their contracts and set out from France on board the Saint-Nicolas-de-Nantes.

According to the lists of the recruits, several men declared that they practiced a trade. However, most of them had no particular experience and they would be assigned to clearing the land. Once they signed their contract, they were officially identified as enlisted men.

At the time, the term “enlisted man” did not mean what it does today. Under the French Regime, an enlisted man was an individual who was bound by contract to another individual or a company for a period of three to five years. During this period, the enlisted man could not hire on with another master and had to obey certain rules. For example, he could not trade furs, or marry (without special permission), and could not go to cabarets. He did not enjoy the status of a free citizen. “An enlisted man is a man who is required to go anywhere and do anything his master asks him, much like a slave, during the time of his enlistment,” said a man of the time.* At the end of his contract, he could take on the status of a free citizen, settle in the colony and marry. Only one-third of the enlisted men decided to do so; the rest returned to France. 

The enlisted man worked as a jack of all trades. His duties depended on his master and his trade, if he had one. For example, if the enlisted man worked on a farm, he would work in the fields, but he would also work as a carpenter if that was his original trade. In brief, according to the contracts signed for the Great Recruit of 1653, the enlisted men “promised and were required to practice both their trade and do the other tasks they were asked to do on the Island of Montreal.” **

In Montreal, it was primarily the religious communities (the Congrégation de Notre-Dame, the Hôtel-Dieu, the Seigneurs de l’île), as well as certain wealthy families (including the LeBer-LeMoyne families) who hired the enlisted men. It should be noted that a master could sell or rent an enlisted man to a habitant requiring his services.

In exchange for his labour, the enlisted man was housed, fed and paid an annual wage. His wages depended on his skills. A worker with no experience received an average of 60 livres per year, while a tradesman received higher wages. A sawyer received 80 livres, a carpenter received 100 livres, and a surgeon received 150, even 200 livres per year. These salaries may appear advantageous, but this was not really the case. The sums earned in the first year and even following that were used to reimburse the initial advances paid to the enlisted man, for food and housing prior to the crossing for example. This was the case of the Great Recruit of 1653, which was delayed from leaving France by almost two months.

And it is impossible to determine if all of these men actually practiced their trades in New France. We do know than only one-fifth of the men who made up the Great Recruit of 1653 lived solely by means of their trade. We also know that some of the recruits claimed to practice a trade to facilitate their acceptance as enlisted men and receive better wages. In any case, regardless of their occupation, one thing is certain: the enlisted men were never idle for long.
This is the final chronicle on the trades of the men who made up the Great Recruit of 1653. We invite you to return on March 9, 2004, for a new theme.

DECHÊNE, Louise. Habitants et marchands de Montréal au 17^e siècle, essai, Montréal, Boréal Compact, 1988, 532 p.

LANGLOIS, Michel. Montréal 1653. La Grande Recrue, Québec, Les Éditions du Septentrion, 2003, 268 p.