The Lost Code

The Censitaire

Colonist's House

Musée de la civilisation, bibliothèque du Séminaire de Québec.
Martin, Thomas Mower. « Old-fashioned farm, New Brunswick » in : Campbell, Wilfred. Canada. London : A. & C. Black, 1907. P. 32. Loc. 294.3.26

If seigneurs were at the top of the seigneurie social hierarchy, censitaires were at the bottom. In principle, when people agreed to become colonists, the seigneur paid for their voyage and subsistence while they got settled. However, in actuality this was rarely the case. When the censitaires arrived in the seigneurie, they had to clear their land and build their first home, most often a temporary shack. Once they were settled, censitaires lived off the land and sold surpluses to buy any goods they did not make themselves. They led a modest life of many obligations and few privileges.