Clan Swinton

Captain George Sitwell Campbell Swinton (1859-1937)

Born in Edinburgh in 1859, George Swinton was a long serving politician, and officer of arms. He was the second son of Archibald Campbell Swinton of Kimmerghame and Georgiana Caroline Sitwell, daughter of Sir George Sitwell, 2nd Baronet of Renishaw.
At the age of 18 George Swinton joined the 71st Highland Light Infantry, and served in the army for 15 years after leaving in 1893. During the Marquess of Lansdowne's time as Viceroy of India (1888-1894), Swinton served him as an extra Aide-de-Camp.
George Swinton married Elizabeth Ebsworth OBE in 1895, and they had three children; a son and two daughters.
Swinton served as March Pursuivant of Arms Extraordinary. He was Albany Herald of Arms in Ordinary for three years from 1923 to 1926, and he also served as Lord Lyon King of Arms and Secretary to the Order of the Thistle from 1927 until 1929.
Swinton died on the 17th of January, 1937 at the age of 77. 
He is the grandfather of Major General Sir John Swinton, and great-grandfather of Oscar winning actress Tilda Swinton.

Portait of George Swinton and family.

Major-General Sir John Swinton of Kimmerghame, KCVO, OBE, DL (1925-)

John Swinton is a retired Major-General of the British Army who served in the Scots Guards during the Second World War, and also fought in Malaya during the 1962-1966 Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, where he was mentioned in dispatches. He was the son of Brigadier Alan Henry Campbell Swinton of Kimmerghame, MC, and grandson of the aforementioned Captain George Swinton.
John Swinton made a career in the army, and in 1976 he was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and then retired in 1979.
The following year Swinton took on the position of Deputy-Lieutenant of Berwickshire, and then was Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire from 1989 to 2000. In 1996 he had the honor of escorting the Stone of Destiny up from London back to Scotland.
Swinton married Judith Balfour Killen in 1954, and together they had three sons and a daughter. Their daughter is the Academy Award winning actress Tilda Swinton.

He currently lives at Kimmerghame House in Duns in Berwickshire.


Tilda Swinton (1960-)

Tilda Swinton is an Oscar winning actress who is known for both arthouse and mainstream films.
Swinton was born in London in 1960 to Scottish soldier Major-General Sir John Swinton and Australian Judith Balfour (great-grandaughter of Scottish botanist John Hutton Balfour).
Tilda graduated from Cambridge University in 1983, and after a spell of work in the theatre, including at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, as well with the Royal Shakespeare Company, she embarked on a career in film. Swinton has appeared in many major films, particularly the 2007 film Michael Clayton for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Tilda Swinton currently lives in Nairn, Moray with her twin children.