William Swann was born in Virginia in about 1685 and arrive in North Carolina in 1694. A resident of Currituck, Swann began representing that precinct in the North Carolina Colonial Assembly in 1709, eventually becoming Speaker of the House. A local justice of the peace, he also presided over court cases and served again in the assembly from 1715 to 1716 and in 1722. He died in North Carolina in about 1723.