New France

 An old map of a section of Quebec, along with a contemporary photograph, shows in detail the seigneurial system of New France, in which settlers lived on long narrow lots to ensure access to the water. It's still apparent today from the air.

This clock always catches my eye.

Marie d'Incarnation was a nun in Quebec City who worked with her order to establish schools and hospitals. She also kept record of the history of the colony.

This contemporary sculpture shows the legacy of one of the filles du roi, the women who crossed the ocean to help New France grow. Catherine Moitie's name is at the bottom. Ascending, each line goes to one of her children, and their children. Inside of five generations, Catherine had over 600 descendents. The legacy of those women carries on today in many Canadians.

More household goods of New France.

The Catholic church was at the heart of everything in the colony.

Britain had established their own colonies, to the south and in what is now the Atlantic provinces. Their rivalry with France would lead in time to war in the New World.

This painting is Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, from the circle of Samuel Scott, dating around 1751.

Acadia had been a separate French speaking colony in the Maritimes, and over decades, it changed hands multiple times. It became known as Nova Scotia under the British, and the Acadians maintained neutrality as the British and French jockeyed in position. In time, during the French and Indian War, the British would take this neutrality as grounds for expulsion of many Acadians.

These four paintings are collectively titled The Four Kings Of Canada, by John Verelst, painted during a visit to London by four Indigenous leaders to Queen Anne, who commissioned the paintings.