Originally Posted on Facebook: April 4, 2020

A 17th Century Wedding - William Snowden & Elizabeth Swanson

Some of the oldest records I have in our family tree are associated with the Snowden line. On October 13, 1695, William Snowden aged, 25 married his bride Elizabeth Swanson aged 20 in St. Mary's Whitechapel Church, London, England.

William and Elizabeth are my generation's 7th great grandparents born in 1670 and 1674 respectively. Together they had 9 children over 19 years. I have not completed all research for each of the children and so I can't comment on how many survived childhood or even childbirth as the mortality rate at this time for children in their first year was 12%.

Additionally, the 17th Century was a perilous time for Londoners. 1665 marked the last widespread plague which killed an estimated 100,000 people in the city over a period of 18 months. The very next year - in 1666 The Great Fire of London swept through the city over a 4 day period. Although no accurate numbers were recorded many believe that over 70,000 homes were destroyed.

It is amazing to me that these records, over 300 years old have survived the centuries, plagues and fires. If you look at the publication of banns document, you can see William's signature on the right-hand side.

1695 Banns Document, showing William's signature