Dorothy Margaret Bannister nee Swinfield (1929-2024)

Dorothy and daughter Tracey Jones

Dorothy Margaret Swinfield was born on the 29^th of December 1929 in Barton under Needwood in Staffordshire. She was the fifth of the seven children born to William Swinfield, a platelayer who worked for the Midland Railway Company, and his wife Ada. She had five brothers, William Arthur, Albert Edward, Frederick Charles, Thomas John and Geoffrey, and one older sister Joan. Amazingly, when her father married Ada Louisa Toon on 23^rd December 1922 in Barton parish church, when he lived in Barr Lane, he was a 50 year-old widower. He had previously been married to Charlotte Allsebrooke (1872-1920) in Burton-on-Trent Register Office in 1894. That first union had produced ten children born from 1896 to 1910, of whom seven survived to adulthood. Ada Louise Swinfield died on 17^th November 1974, aged 80, and is buried in Barton churchyard.

Grave of Ada Louise Swinfield
(1895-1974) in Barton under
Needwood churchyard

William Swinfield had passed away nearly thirty years earlier in 1945 at the age of 74. He had been born on 13th August 1870 at Alrewas as the son of Joseph Swinfield (1843-1905), a farm labourer, and Hannah whose maiden surname had been Riley. His family of five children lived at Alrewas before moving to Barton under Needwood between 1875 and 1881. Joseph was a native of Earl Shilton in Leicestershire being born there in 1843. He was the son of Thomas Brown and Sarah Hewitt, the mother being the estranged wife of Thomas Swinfield, who emigrated to America.    

Grave of (Albert) Edward Swinfield 
(1925-1948) at Barton under Needwood 

Dorothy’s older brother Albert joined the Navy at the age of 14. He arrived home in time for her birthday along with her first ever birthday cake. He was taken prisoner of war at the age of 17. Dot was very proud of him and often spoke of how brave he had been. Sadly, he never recovered from his time in Makassar Camp on the island of Java and died in 1948 at the age of only 23.

Dot, as she was known throughout her long life, began working at the age of 14 as a chamber maid at The Silverhill in Birmingham. She then worked at The Yenton Hotel, Midland Journey, Sharps and Knights and at the Oakmore Café.  She was a cleaner for John Taylor High School and worked for 15 years at Rangemore School for the Deaf.                                                 

It was while working at Sharps and Knights that Dot met and fell in love with Tom Bannister, who was to become her second husband in 1958. They moved to Belvedere Road in Burton-on- Trent.  Following the births of their son Paul in 1965 and daughter Tracey in 1968, the family moved back to Barton. Over the years, the family grew with the arrival of grandchildren Emma Louise, Alfie and Tasha. Dot loved and doted on her grandchildren.

Dot retired at 65 but never really stopped working. She played bowls and catered at the club, eventually being made an Honorary Member. She loved other games, playing crib, whist, dominoes and bingo, and enjoyed reading. Her world was shattered when Tom died on 7^th of June in 2003.

She continued to enjoy a very active life. Tracey had moved to New Zealand and Dot visited her and the Jones family there on several trips. Dot had a stroke on the 9^th of March 2023 and spent the remainder of her life in the Jayson Hylton Nursing Home where she died on 9^th March 2024, aged 94. The funeral service took place in her home parish church of Barton under Needwood on 3^rd April. 

Sandra Bates (1950-2024)

 I am very sorry to announce the death of Sandra Bates, a very keen member of the Swinfield Genealogy & DNA Group. She passed away on 3^rd March 2024 following a short stay in hospital after dealing with a long-term condition. 

Allan & Sandra at Ashby de la Zouch in 2010  

Sandra was born in 1950 in the Hammersmith area of London as the older of the two children of Roger and Bettyne Bates. She leaves a brother Paul and a partner Allan. 

Her mother (1921-2002) was the daughter of Albert Arthur Summers (1898-1976) and Frances Minnie (1897-1984) whose maiden surname was Swinfield. Surprisingly, on her birth certificate, Frances’s mother was recorded as Ellen Paddison, a domestic servant who lived and worked at Willington in Derbyshire. By the date of the 1901 census, her 4 year-old child was living at Derby Road in Willington recorded as the daughter of Alfred Swinfield (1868-1919), a general labourer, and his wife Theresa or Thirza. That couple had married in 1893 in the parish church and, after they had lost their only child Daisy as a baby, they appear to have “adopted” the young Frances. As such, she and her descendants including Sandra and Paul have become part of Swinfield Family 5 & 2.

 

Alfred Swinfield was the son of Joseph Swinfield (1843-1905) and his wife Hannah Riley, who had married at Alrewas in Staffordshire in 1865. He was yet another grandchild of Thomas Brown, a life-long bachelor, by Sarah Swinfield nee Hewitt, the estranged wife of Thomas Swinfield (1808-1893) who left his “family” behind to emigrate to America in 1854. So Sandra was, on paper, my 3^rd cousin once removed. A very complicated and certainly not genetic relationship!  

 

Sandra was educated at Keynsham near Bristol, later studying microbiology at Cardiff University and graduating with an M.Sc. in Brewing Technology from Birmingham University. She certainly put her education towards what was clearly to become a vocation in the brewing industry. Working for Courage and later Harp Lager, she took on the Eight Bells pub at Alton, Hampshire, and then worked for Ushers at Trowbridge in Wiltshire. Eventually she joined Wadworth’s in Devizes, where she became part of the team that brews her own favourite beer, the famous 6X. Those who enjoy real ale should be very grateful to her.  

 

Ashby de la Zouch - 11 September 2010 

I first corresponded by email with Sandra back in late in 2008 when she lived at Melksham in Wiltshire and introduced herself as the granddaughter of Frances Swinfield. We have been in regular contact ever since discussing the family’s history and collaborating on research. When she decided to hold a Bates, Rowland and Eyre family history “get-together” for her close relatives at Ashby de la Zouch in Leicestershire on 11^th September 2010, Di and I were invited to be there to represent the Swinfields.

 

First Swinfield Gathering - September 2013

That meeting of her part of the family lead to the first Swinfield Gathering at the Sir John Moore Foundation, Appleby Magna, another Swinfield ancestral parish in Leicestershire, on 22^nd September 2013. Sandra found the venue and organised the day whilst her partner, Allan Francis, was appointed the photographer.  

 

Second Swinfield Gathering - September 2015 

Two years later, the event was expanded and the second Swinfield Gathering took place at the George Ward Centre in her new home village of Barwell, Leicestershire, on 12^th September 2015. Once again, Sandra booked the venue and played a major part in organising the event. She even scheduled her daily dog-walking routes to pass as many Swinfield homes as possible to distribute leaflets, publicising the day and encouraging attendees to be there!

 

Later in her genealogical research, Sandra became involved in DNA testing to try to answer long standing questions and relationships in her family history. She ran a local U3A group near her home in Barwell and was a member of the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society.

 

I will be very forever grateful to Sandra for all her input, help and support and the effort that added so much to making the gatherings such a success and bringing us Swinfield cousins together. Only in January this year, we talked about holding yet another English Gathering later in 2024. Sadly now Sandra will not be there to see it.