Heddon-on-the-Wall Local History Society
  • Home
  • Calendar
  • Introduction
  • Where are we?
  • History Map
  • Timeline
    • Prehistoric
    • AD43 to 1599
    • 1600 to 1799
    • 1800 to 1899
    • 1900 to 1999
    • 2000 to 2099
  • Heddon's History
    • Prehistory
    • Hadrian's Wall >
      • Vallum excavation (1893)
      • Hadrian's Wall excavation 1926
      • Wall ditch, Bays Leap (1958)
      • Hadrian’s Wall: Archaeological research by English Heritage 1976-2000
      • Throckley & Heddon entanglements
      • WallWatch
      • English Heritage (2020)
      • Wardell-Armstrong Archaeolgy Reports
      • Historic England Archives
    • Six townships >
      • 1 Heddon township >
        • Heddon in the Middle Ages
        • Common Land
        • Middle Marches
        • Tithe Award
        • St Andrew's Church >
          • Stained Glass Windows
          • Churchyard
          • Monuments of church & churchyard (1991)
          • Monuments Page 2
          • Vicars of Heddon
        • Village property
        • Heddon Hall >
          • Sale of Heddon Hall 2012
        • Heddon Banks Farm
        • Frenchman's Row
        • Methodist Church >
          • Heddon Methodist Church Centenary 1877-1977
        • Men's Institute
        • Women's Institute
        • Welfare Field
        • Knott Memorial Hall
        • Memorial Park
        • Schools
        • River Tyne
        • Coal Mining
        • Quarrying
        • Water Supplies
        • Transport
        • Waggonway & Railway
        • Occupations from 1800
        • Miscellaneous
      • 2 West Heddon township
      • 3 East Heddon township
      • 4 Houghton & Close House township >
        • Close House
      • 5 Eachwick township
      • 6 Whitchester township
    • Rudchester
  • People
    • Sir James Knott
    • Cadwallader J. Bates
    • Richard Burdon
    • Hugh Sinclair (Tim) Swann
    • George Clark
  • Old Photos
    • Postcards
    • Old photos 1
    • Old photos 2
    • Old photos 3
    • Old photos 4
    • Old photos 5
    • Old photos 6
    • Old Photos 7
  • Old News
    • Community News
    • Letter from the Emigrant Clergy of Frenchman's Row (1802)
    • Alleged Brutal Murder at Heddon-on-the-Wall (1876)
    • Sad boat accident at Ryton (1877)
    • Coronation tree (1902)
    • 65 Years on a Ferry Boat (1929)
    • Come claim your kiss at Heddon (1953)
    • The Swan (1972)
    • Heddon WI (1987)
    • Church House (1966)
    • Happy return (1993)
    • Hexham Courant (1997)
    • Butterfly Garden (1999)
    • Foot & Mouth (2001)
    • Remembrance Day (1996)
    • Remembrance Day (2016)
    • RAF at Ouston (2007)
    • Close House Golf Course (2009)
    • Heddon pupils celebrate British heritage (2011)
    • Roman Wall Forge (2011)
    • Diamond Jubilee (2012)
    • Auction of Bronze Statue, Close House (2012)
    • Heddon WI (2012)
    • Puffing Billy Festival (2013)
    • Heddon Village Show (2014)
    • View of the North (2014)
    • The Wall at Heddon (2014)
    • Heddon Village Show (2015)
    • War veterans singing send-off (September 2015)
    • Anglo-Saxon history (2014)
    • Heddon WI at 100 (2017)
    • Hadrian's Wall discovery (2019)
    • Tulip Mews (2020)
    • Mike Furlonger
    • Hadrian's Wall 1900 Festival
  • Memories
    • Olive White
    • Betty Cockburn
    • Betty Cockburn - miscellaneous information
    • Isabel Snowdon
    • William & Winnie Watson
    • Edith Ward
    • Mark Parker
    • Jack Lawson
    • Winnie Spoor
    • P Reay
    • Mr and Mrs Hall
    • Peter Chapman
    • Elizabeth Elenora Eames
    • Harry Murray
  • Other documents
    • Mackenzie (1825)
    • Bates (1886) >
      • Early & Roman
      • Townships
      • Heddon Church
      • Heddon & Houghton
      • Whitchester
      • Eachwick
      • West & East Heddon
      • Records
      • Addenda
      • Appendix A
    • History, Topography & Directory of Northumberland (Bulmer's) - 1886
    • History of Northumberland (1930)
    • Collingwood Bruce (1853)
    • Whellan (1855)
    • Post Office Directory (1879)
    • Prominent people in Heddon
    • Place names
    • Ad Murum
    • Archived documents
    • Thomas Bewick's History of British Birds (1826)
    • Census data 1801-1991
    • Historical Records 1888-1890
    • Knott Sale of Village Property (1924)
    • Extracts from Parish Council Records
    • Local colliery records
    • Blackburn (1938)
    • Clark (c.1963)
    • History of Church (1968)
    • Boundary Commission Report 1984
  • Walks
    • Walks 2
  • Blog
  • Contact us
  • Links
  • What's new
  • Site search
  • Past & Present
  • Photo of the Month
  • Place Name Studies
    • Meas & Meres
    • OS Name Books: Elsdon
    • OS Name Books: Allendale
    • OS Name Books: Cheviot Hills

Hugh Sinclair Swann (11 March 1925 - 13 June 2007) (otherwise known as Tim Swann)


Tim Swann was appointed Cabinetmaker to Her Majesty the Queen in 1988.

His work was inspired by his admiration for Barnsley, Gimson and Russell. He fitted many of the most important of Britain's coin collections including the Fitzwilliam, Cambridge, the Barber Institute, Birmingham, and the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow. More importantly,  he supplied the Royal Mint with nearly 80 cabinets to house its complete coin collection.

His work for Elizabeth II began in 1975 when a complete reorganisation of the Royal coin collection at Windsor Castle was begun.The cabinets were created from specially purchased Honduras mahogany and Indian rosewood. On one occasion a log was delivered to his workshop addressed “Her Majesty the Queen of England, 3 Hexham Road, Heddon-on-the-Wall”.  Each specimen in the Royal Collection has its own rosewood holder, and the doors are faced with gilt-tooled leather book-backs, which blend seamlessly into the surrounding Royal Library
shelves.

He made the crosier and pectoral cross for his brother-in-law, Graham Leonard, Bishop of London (1981 to 1991) and later Roman Catholic  monsignor. His brother was Michael Swann (Baron Swann), former chairman of the BBC.



Text and photo (below) from Wikipedia.

Picture
Indian rosewood log for the cabinet to hold the Royal coin collection. Photo by Hugh Swann.
He married  Patricia (Patsy) Fullerton in 1948 after his demobilisation from the army. His son told me that he was an officer in the Royal Signals and had spent some time in India, based in Jhansi, as part of preparations for the invasion of Burma that was rendered unnecessary after the Japanese surrender following Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "Later on he was in Singapore, and it was there, behind a cinema, that he met my mother for the first time."

He set up his first furniture workshop in Houghton School House at Heddon-on-the-Wall, the home of his in-laws, with the aid of a legacy from his grandmother and a Rural Industries grant,  His early clients were  among the churches of the North East, including the Holy Sepulchre, Ashington,  St Mary the Virgin, Ovingham, Holy Spirit, Denton, and the Church of  the Venerable Bede, Benwell. Other commissions came from Cambridge, including Clare College library.

In 1958, Tim Swann bought the west wing of the former vicarage in Heddon village, and built his second furniture workshop to a modern design by his friend, the notable Scottish architect, Peter Womersley.

The address, 3 Hexham Road was used to send the Indian rosewood log, shown in the photo above.

Swann cabinets, with his trade mark of a white swan on a black oval disc, were sold worldwide. He was very careful in his choice of well-seasoned wood, pale for preference. A hallmark was his drawer handle, a brass cylinder mounted end-out and waisted so as to welcome the fingers.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Houghton School House, Heddon on the Wall. Photo A Curtis (2009).
Picture
West wing of Old Vicarage, Hexham Road, Heddon on the Wall. Photo A Curtis (2011).
The stimulus that led to this article on Tim Swann is explained on the blog.

Links

Wikipedia - Hugh Swann
The Times - obituary - July 21, 2007
Peter Womersley - architect - photos  Historic Scotland

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.