AIMS AND NEW MATERIAL
The primary aim of this society is to create, in one place, a composite history for all the Swinton family and for the benefit of our future generations. This is slowly being accomplished by bringing together as many records as possible for both the male and female lines. In doing this, the society aims to act as a ‘hub’ for all Swinton information. If one person is researching their family they can send in their information and if I have other people researching the same branch then I can put these people in contact with each other. By the sharing of information it ultimately is to the benefit of us all as invariably someone is holding that vital piece of information that somebody else is searching for. Uniquely the Swinton family has the longest continuous recorded genealogy of any family in the United Kingdom other than the Royal Family. In this history, the mainline Swinton family can be traced back to the year 785AD. The natural aim for anyone researching their branch would be to find the links that connect them into the mainline family.
     The secondary aim of the society is to create a greater global atmosphere of pride, kinship and belonging to this great Swinton family.
     If you find any information, from any source, concerning anyone carrying the SWINTON name, or a descendant of a Swinton, then please forward a copy of such material to me for inclusion in future editions of these databases.
     There are many people out there who hold considerable amounts of information and family records concerning both known and unknown branches of the family that I have not come across to date. The biography, history and other details for most of the people entered in the society records is generally incomplete or totally missing. This is where all of you who carry the “Swinton” surname, or kinship to it, can participate. All of you both here in Australia, and overseas will have numerous new entries, or in fact, whole trees concerning your particular branches to add to the list. There are many of you who have information, whether a small fact, or significant volume of detail that would help to make many of the present entries listed more complete. Therefore, I would hope that you might be inspired to assist in making this inventory a significant record of the Swintons’ and a legacy for those, who come after us who might want to study any aspect of this family.
     Any records being forwarded should be copied, however, if it material to be returned will be copied and returned within a few days of its receipt. Please ensure that any material that is to be returned is clearly marked “RETURN” to avoid any misunderstanding. I would assume that ‘unlabelled ‘material is for me to keep for the files.
     Where information is supplied, if there is an existing, prepared family tree, it would be helpful to send a copy this along with the information being sent.
     Family bibles often contain significant information in the front pages. Other sources are birth, christening, marriage and death certificates, school records and certificates, old correspondence, wills, notes on the back of photographs (occasionally), etc. Also if you come across mention of any “Swinton” in newspapers or magazine articles, birth or obituary notices, etc., or reference to the same in books or journals (past or present) I would appreciate it if a copy was forwarded to me, or at least the details. If you see something in a book and copy the page(s) please make certain that you write down the book title, author, publisher and year on the copy.