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Hi,

My cousin and I are currently trying to unravel the history of another cousin - here is the story:

William Swarbrick was born on 28th December 1884 at Bootle, the son of Robert and Mary Ann [McDonald] Swarbrick. By 1902 he was serving in the Merchant Navy voyaging between the UK and Sydney, NSW. He married Mary Curtis in 1908 and the couple had two sons. Unfortunately it appears that the marriage was not a success and the family story is that William simply failed to return from one of his voyages and remained in Australia. The last voyage that we know for certain that he made as in December 1921 on board the SS Waipara from Liverpool to Sydney. We have his Merchant Navy record and details of several of the ships he sailed on as an Able Seaman. We also have the story of his missing his ship, the SS Horotara, in 1914, probably having got drunk with his two mates the night before.

Now comes the complication - in June 1922 a housebreaker giving the name of William Swarbrick was sentenced to 18 months' servitude in Melbourne. There are several newspaper accounts of his various crimes [thanks to the Trove site for the details] and it is clear that this man was a career criminal as well as a Merchant Navy sailor. There is a Criminal Record Office [New Scotland Yard] dated 10th September 1924 for this William Swarbrick born 1884 in Liverpool. The record states that William Swarbrick was aka as John Duncan Campbell and Alexander Littlejohn. His first two offences for theft were recorded in 1910 and 1912 in Dumbarton under the name John Duncan Campbell; his third was under the name William Swarbrick at Blyth on 4th February 1915, an offence under the Merchant Shipping Act. There then follows a further 12 known offences up to and including the offences at Melbourne in 1922. Confusingly the Melbourne offences were entered under the third alias - Alexander Littlejohn - and it states on the record that he was identified as Alexander Littlejohn by his finger prints. There is a separate criminal record sheet for Alexander Littlejohn with offences up to 1924 which gives him a birth date of 5th September 1884 in Scotland.

At first we thought that we were dealing with the same man, but on closer inspection this now seems extremely doubtful for two main reasons - the photos on the two Criminal Record sheet and the photo on William Swarbrick's Merchant Navy record do not appear to be the same man - the criminal ones seem to be the same man; secondly John Duncan Campbell was convicted of larceny on 24th July 1912 at Dumbarton - on the 18th July 1912 William Swarbrick had arrived on the SS Otranto at Sydney - difficult to be in two places at once.

It seems likely that the paths of William Swarbrick and John Duncan Campbell/Alexander Littlejohn must have crossed at some point, presumably before February 1912 when Campbell first used the name.

So, what happened to William Swarbrick after 1921?

Any further information would be more than welcome.

jds1949

Dear All,

In my never-ending quest to identify all Swarbrick families I have been looking at three possibly connected family groups - all from Western Australia and all from the 1920s - 1950s.

Swarbrick of Emu Point, Western Australia
William Hodge Swarbrick
Ethel May Swarbrick
Clara Edith Swarbrick
Son [Lieutenant RANVR] = Bernice Richards

[There is a Swarbrick Street in the modern Emu Point]

Swarbrick of Nornalup and Walpole, Western Australia
Thomas Hodge Swarbrick
Thomas Edward Swarbrick
Terence Swarbrick
Harley Swarbrick

Swarbrick of Margaret River, Western Australia
Robert Swarbrick
Gordon Swarbrick
Doris Swarbrick
June Swarbrick
Les Swarbrick
Don Swarbrick

There also seems to be some connection to the Swarbrick Forest/wilderness area near Walpole.

My intention is to try and connect all of the above to my already existing database of Swarbrick families.

I would be grateful for any additional information that anyone has. If there are any family members out there - then I'd be delighted to hear from you, preferably via a PM so as not to breach the rule about not posting details of living persons.

Thanks,

jds1949

Hi,

I have a transcript version [the LDS one] of an 1881 census entry - piece 3684 folio 41 - for a William Swarbrick age 30 Mariner [113, Braesnose Road, Kirkdale]

My problem is that this man is listed as having two daughters - one aged 19 and one 16 - now I know that lads in Liverpool grow up fast, but this is a little too far; so either his age or his daughters' ages are wrong.

If anyone has access to the original census rather than the transcript then I'd love to know what it really says.

Thanks,

jds1949

I've just come across John Swarbrick and his two sons, John and Joseph who lived in Davenport and Cascade Montana from the 1860s onwards. I have their entries from the "Progressive Men of Montana" but would be keen to learn anything more about them. I believe that John Swarbrick, the father, was living in Preston, Lancashire in 1841 - he would then be in his late teens.

If anyone has anything on this family I would be glad to hear from you.

jds1949

I am currently researching all the men named Swarbrick who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914 - 1918. There were 12 of them in all, all born in Lancashire. I have identified 11 of them, but this lad has got me stumped. According to his attestation papers he was born in Barrow-in-Furness in 1876; but there is no record that I can find of the birth of a William Swarbrick in Barrow between 1870 and 1880. Nor can I find him in the 1881 UK census.

He was living at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan when he enlisted in 1916. He was a blacksmith by trade and his wife's name was Frances. If anyone has any information on this man, I would be very grateful to receive it.

Thanks

jds1949