An Evacuees Story As told to Ken Harris and Frankie Fisher My brother and I were evacuated to Swanbourne from Edmonton on the 27th September 1940. I was aged four years and four months; my brother was nine years old. When we arrived we were ushered into a hall where I remember food was served, […]

The Brooks family  Based on information and photographs provided by Jennifer Littlewood, a descendant of the Brooks family from Swanbourne. The Brooks family came to Swanbourne in 1843 to run the White Hart Public House which stood just past the junction of Tattam’s Lane at Nearton End. The White Hart  is still here in the village, but is […]

Celebrations (village events) By Ken Harris Like most communities, Swanbourne has held celebrations and events marking special occasions over the years. The earliest village celebration of which we have yet found a record was for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, which was held in Swanbourne on Thursday 9th June 1887, about which there was a very […]

Swanbourne’s connections to early American History Connections may be made from 1763 to 1824 (summarised below), with dates of major historical events included:- 1763 February 10th – The Treaty of Paris ends the 7 Year War, with Britain victorious.  Canada and Florida are ceded by France and Spain to Britain. 1767 General Patrick George Tonyn (1725–1804), the […]

Featured image – Swanbourne ladies in the 1880s. Below left:- Digitally enhanced photograph of the old Vicarage in 1858, just before it was demolished.  Previously, there only seemed to be a painting of the old Vicarage, and this photograph never seems to have been found by Ken Reading.  The newly discovered photograph has been digitally enhanced […]

Swanbourne and the Crimean War By Ken Harris The Crimean War was fought between Russia and Turkey between 1853 and 1856, with Britain and France joining with Turkey in 1854.  Its most famous battle was the Battle of Balaclava, largely on account of the celebrated, although disastrous, ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’. Whilst we have no reason […]

Lace-making (Bucks Lace) By Frankie Fisher Lace-making was a cottage industry carried out by women, mainly as a supplement to the family income, although for some women it was their sole source of income. As it required more skill than straw-plaiting, it was generally carried out by older women. The centre for the local industry […]

The Four Admirals of Swanbourne. By Ken Harris Despite being an inland village, Swanbourne can boast of having had 4 admirals, all with the surname Fremantle, living in the village, all bar the first having been born here. The first of these admirals was Thomas Francis Fremantle (1765 – 1819), a close friend and colleague […]

Lords Cottesloe The Lords in the family tree by Ken Harris Five generations of Swanbourne Fremantles have a Lord Cottesloe.  They are indicated within the family tree below, and startind with Thomas Francis Fremantle, the son of the Napoleonic War hero of the same name.  He was born in 1798 and died in  1890. In fact […]

The Telford Twins – War babies born to an evacuee mother in 1944 By John and David Telford John and David Telford are identical twins who have had links with Swanbourne for 70 years. The connection began when their mother Olive Telford’s cousin Dennis Henderson (son of Ernie Henderson who lived for many years at […]