Billopp Lived Longer Than His Peers
Meet Captain Christopher Billopp
Born in 1638 in England to Christopher and Mary Hazelwood Billopp, Captain Christopher Billopp lived a long and history making life.
His father was a wealthy London merchant, a friend of the King, initiating his status from the start.
“In the 17th Century, the average life expectancy was 39.7 years of age.
That averaged number included the extremely high infant death rate, so if a person did reach age five, the average life expectancy rose to 55 years old.
Captain Christopher Billopp lived to age 87.
Growing up in England during the English Civil Wars, Billopp was seven when the New Model Army formed and 11 when King Charles was beheaded on January 30, 1649.
In 1665 he was 27 for the Bubonic Plague, called the Black Death in London, and 28 the next year during the Great Fire of London.
When his daughter Mary was born in England, he was 35, coming to New York the following year with Major Andros in 1674.
When Billopp was 38 he became a landowner in Tottenville.
By age 47 he saw the birth of his daughter Anne in England, and two years later in 1687 the land he owned increased to all of present day…
