Part 8: The Australian branches

The two Swinfield brothers, William and John, born in Wolvey, Warwickshire, emigrated to New South Wales.

Marriage of William Swinfield in 1848 

William was the first to arrive right at the end of 1848. He and his new wife, Sarah Williamson, had married at Nuneaton parish church on 27th August 1848 just two weeks before they travelled down to Devon to sail from Plymouth. They took with them four of William’s children by his first wife, Sarah Ballard, who had died in 1845. The “Walmer Castle” was a comparatively small ship to make the arduous voyage of some 14 weeks to the other side of the world. Mastered by Joseph Thorne, it had a crew of about 50, 10 cabin passengers and just over 300 government emigrants. Two of the infants died en route.

Of the sons who went with William, John (William), born in 1837, had ten children. Four of the sons, Henry (1858-1923), Albert William (1866-1934), Arthur T. (1868-1917) and James E. (1871-1923) had many descendants between them (Family 3A). Linda, a member of the Swinfield Genealogy& DNA Group, is on this branch of the tree.

Daniel Swinfield (1842-1877)

His youngest son, Daniel (1842-1877), also has living representatives (Family 3B). One of his great-grandsons, Raymond Francis, has provided me with many documents and photographs including those for Daniel and his son, Daniel junior (1877-1905) who lived at Pymont in Sydney.

William produced a further seven issue by his second wife and their modern descendants still live in various parts of Australia (Family 3C).

Death of William Swinfield 1876

The extended Family 3C taken in about 1911
at Arthursleigh, Westbourne St, Kogarah, NSW

Sarah was to die in 1861 and William married for a third time to Louisa Tober. He finally died in 1876 at Petersham. Most Swinfields in this line descend from their son, George William (1854-1935), who had nine offspring. Vanessa Swinfield and Shirley Stott Despoja represent
this branch within the current Group members. Shirley has a wonderful photograph of George William, his wife, all of their children and four grandchildren taken in about 1911. 

John Swinfield, the younger brother, and his family had a far more hazardous passage to NSW on board the “Beejapore” in 1852/3. It was “home” to over a thousand passengers from all over England and Scotland, of whom 55 died during its 14 week voyage from Liverpool. On arrival, they were lodged at the infamous Quarantine Station which had been built for only 150. The majority were housed in tents where measles, scarlet fever and typhus claimed another 62 lives. Indeed, John’s wife, Mary Ann, and his youngest son, William, were amongst the victims. John married again to Eliza Hartley and died in 1874 at Waterloo but there are no living Swinfield lines from him that have been identified to date.

Refund of emigration fee for Edward Swinfield 

His branch, termed Family 4, has many representatives in England who originate from John’s oldest son, Edward, born in 1834, who chose not to emigrate. His £10 fee was refunded. He was very lucky not to go! Five members of the Swinfield Group can trace their ancestry back to him. These include Marie and Paul Frederick who are distant cousins to the Australians.

It would be great to do a DNA test on a male Australian to confirm once and for all the connection between Families 3,4,5 & 13.   

Part 7: Family 3 & 4 - The cousins

The DNA evidence strongly suggests that the Swinfield family from Earl Shilton (which I originally called Family 5), from which myself, Derrick and all our relatives descend, was connected with that of Family 3& 4. This relationship must have been at some point from the 14^th to the 17^th century, after our distant common ancestor had chosen to use our distinctive and pretty rare surname. What do we know about the history of that branch of our family?

Wolvey Church

Records have enabled that line to be traced back as far as John Swinfield and Frances Collins who married in the church of Wolvey inWarwickshire on 25^th August 1755. They were buried in the churchyard there in 1796 and 1805 after having five children, only two of whom survived their childhood. The only adult son, Thomas, who had been christened on 8^th July 1781, married in the nearby church of Monks Kirby on 21^st August 1803. His bride was Elizabeth Hackett from Copson. The couple settled in his parish and they named 10 children there from 1804 to 1822. Eventually, they moved six miles to the north-west to Mancetter where their last two issue were baptised. Thomas was buried at Nuneaton in 1847, aged 66.   



The Blue Pig on the road to Wolvey Hall

1841 census of Nuneaton  

Of their 12 children, half were boys, of whom one died when he was only 4. Two of them, Daniel, who was a rick cloth worker in Foleshill, and Samuel, a medical doctor in Nuneaton, had no surviving male offspring.

Three have living present-day descendants. George Swinfield, born in 1825, became a boiler maker, probably connected to the railways. Moving south to the East End of London by 1865, his two sons, Daniel and Herbert Victor, and all the modern representatives of “Family 13” still live there today. These include Paul Frederick, whose DNA matches with that of Derrick Joseph George of Family 5.

Passenger list of "Walmer Castle" in 1848

What was the fate of the two oldest sons, William and John, born in 1804 and 1806? They both emigrated to Australia in the middle of the 19^th century. William had already been married and had buried his first wife in Nuneaton by the time that he left with his very new second wife sailing from Plymouth on 12^th September 1848 aboard the “Walmer Castle”. They arrived with his four children on 30^th December 1848. The oldest son, Thomas (1824-1881) remained in England and has produced a plethora of living Swinfields! William started another family with his new bride, Sarah (Williamson), in New South Wales. There are many branches which descend from both of his spouses there today. 

Passenger list of the "Beejapore" 1853  

John Swinfield left with his wife and five children on the “Beejapore” which docked on 9^th February 1853. She and their youngest child died on arrival. Of course, he married again soon after and had more offspring. He too had left his oldest son of 21 behind in Mancetter, Warwickshire. That son, Edward, is also the head of a very large pedigree with many English descendants.

There are just so many cousins who are part of Families 3, 4 & 13. The stories of some of them remain to be told.