Person Page 726

George Slee

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James Sherwood

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Mary Barnes Hewett

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Ealdred Unknown^1,2

Parents

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Citations

1. [S1016] According to Otto Hirzell
2. [S1025] Bostock Family History

William Snellson¹

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Also Known As	William Snellson was also known as Snelston.
Also Known As	He was also known as William Snellson.
Reference Number	He had reference number 579.
User Reference Number	He; 579
Birth	He was born before 1668 This is a very rough calculation being 21 years before the birth of his first child William [580]. Where he was born, how and when he came to Gwersyllt is unknown at this stage - and I don't think we shall ever know from whence he came or why. The christening entry for his son William at Gresford reads “William the son of William Snelson of Gwersyllt October 9th”. Assuming his father William was 18 years old or older, then that father must have been born say 1673 or before, probably within 10 years of 1663, so 1653-1673. That’s a guess.
Residence	He resided in Gwersyllt, Denbighshire, Wales, in January 1689 The first Snelson that has been located in area north of Wrexham is William Snelston [579] at the christening of his son William [580] on 19th January 1689 at Gresford. The entry In the original Church records reads verbatim (note spelling) like this "William son of William Snelston of Gwersylt". (sic) This is the first entry I can find relating to our most distant ancestor of the Snelson line. You can see the actual entry in the attached image from the records.2
	His son William Snelston was born about 18 January 1689 in Gresford.
	His son William Snelson was born in October 1691 in Gwersyllt or Gresford, Wales.
Residence	William Snellson resided in Gwersyllt, Denbighshire, on 9 October 1691 according to then entry for the christening of his son William who is described as the son of William Snelson of Gwersyllt.
	His daughter Jane Snelson was born in May 1695 in Gresford.
	His daughter Anne Snellson was born in May 1697 in Gwersyllt or Gresford.
	His son John Snelson was born in February 1700/01 in Gresford.
	His son John Snelson died on 30 March 1701 in Gwersyllt, Denbighshire.
	His son Thomas Snelson was born in September 1702 in Gresford.
Occupation	William Snellson was a labourer in Gwersyllt in 1703.3
	His son Thomas Snelson died in March 1703 in Gresford or Gwersyllt.
	His son William Snelston died in March 1703 in Gwersyllt.
	His daughter Barbora Snellson was born in July 1704 in Gresford.
	His son James Snellson was born in 1706.
	His daughter Barbora Snellson died before 4 February 1706 in Gresford.
Death	William Snellson died after 1707.
Biography	Let's call him "William of Gwersyllt". The parish of Gwersyllyt was formed in 1851 out of the parts of the townships of Gwersyllt, in the parish of Gresford, and Stantsy, in the parish of Wrexham. The parish of Rhosddu was formed in 1886 out of the townships of Stantsy and Acton in the parish of Wrexham, and parts of the parishes of Gresford and Gwersyllt. Parish records are held at the Clwyd Record Office, Ruthin as follows (a) Baptisms ..... 1851-1934 (b) Marriages 1851-1931 and (c) Burials 1851-1924. Gwersyllt is situated about 2 kilometers North of Wrexham in Denbighshire, Wales. I have calculated William's approximate date of birth by simply going back 20 years from the birth of the first William son of William of Gwersyllt. Clearly, he could have been born a lot earlier depending on how old he was when he got married and then how old he was when they started having children. So he could have been born as early as 1650 or earlier I suppose. The English Civil War (16421651) was a series of armed political interventions between the People (represented by Parliamentarians) and Establishment Royalists (Cavaliers) led by Charles I, mainly over the governance of the people, the divine right of kings and issues of religious freedom. The armies of the two parties criss-crossed England picking their sites for action, often to their own dismay. The outcome was the execution of King Charles I, the following exile of his son Charles II, the cancellation of the monopoly of the Church of England and the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without the consent of Parliament the first example being the replacement of the Monarchy with the Commonwealth of England and Parliament under personal rule of Oliver Cromwell - though the idea of Parliamentary sovereignty was legally established only as part of the Glorious Revolution in 1688. These great changes and the battles across England caused great upheaval in the lives of the people as the forces had to be raised from the working classes, farmers and labourers and the resources, food, equipment, horses had to be extracted wherever they could be commandeered. During William's lifetime, Charles II began the third Anglo-Dutch War in 1672, and parliament and King were continually in conflict over Roman catholic office bearers. In 1685, James II and his wife Mary of Modena were crowned King and Queen under Anglican rites at Westminster.4

Citations

1. [S168] Index to Records of Parishes
2. [S1400] Clwyd FHS List of Snelson Entries
3. [S297] Gresford Parish Registers Volume 1 ( Clwyd FHS ), R3-2968
4. [S1466] Adrian John Snelson's Private Papers