Sir John Swinton of Swinton (of

Swinton, Berwickshire Swinton is a small village in the Scottish Borders. It is in the former county of Berwickshire, around southeast of Duns, and northwest of the Anglo-Scottish border. History Swinton dates to the 11th century or earlier, and is associated with ...

) sometimes called John Swinton of that Ilk was a Scottish politician.

Biography

He was born before 1662, the second son of John Swinton, of Swinton in

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...

, and his wife Margaret, daughter of William Stewart, 2nd Lord Blantyre. Swinton's father had become a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

, was an active politician during

the Protectorate The Protectorate, officially the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, refers to the period from 16 December 1653 to 25 May 1659 during which England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and associated territories were joined together in the Com ...

, and had had his estates forfeited at

the Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

. The younger Swinton, who remained a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, became a successful merchant in the Netherlands. He succeeded his elder brother as head of the family in 1687 and returned to Scotland at the time of the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

, of which his uncle Lord Mersington was a supporter. In 1689 he was appointed a

commissioner of supply Commissioners of Supply were local administrative bodies in Scotland from 1667 to 1930. Originally established in each sheriffdom to collect tax, they later took on much of the responsibility for the local government of the counties of Scotland. ...

for Berwickshire, and the following year he was restored to his father's estates. From 1690 until 1707 he was a

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

for

in the Parliament of Scotland. He became a director of the Company of Scotland and of the

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...

in 1695, incurring huge losses during the

Darien Scheme The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt, backed largely by investors of the Kingdom of Scotland, to gain wealth and influence by establishing ''New Caledonia'', a colony on the Isthmus of Panama, in the late 1690s. The plan was for the co ...

. As he is also one of the signatories on the

Act of Union of 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...

this means he was one of the several persons who were fully compensated for their losses in return for signing the Union with England.https://www.scottisharchivesforschools.org/union1707/documentDownloads/Signatures.pdf As such he was one of those Parcel of Rogues referred to in the bitter poem by

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

. He was knighted before September 1696 and made a

burgess __NOTOC__ Burgess may refer to: People and fictional characters * Burgess (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Burgess (given name), a list of people Places * Burgess, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Burgess, Missouri, U ...

of Edinburgh in 1707. Swinton supported the

Act of Union 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...

, and was one of the

Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain The Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain, serving from 1 May 1707 to 26 May 1708, were not elected like their colleagues from England and Wales, but rather hand-picked. The forty five men sent to London in 1707, to t ...

and a commissioner of

the Equivalent The Equivalent was a sum negotiated at £398,085 10s. 0d. paid to Scotland by the English Government under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707. Proposals for it first emerged in the course of abortive Union negotiations in 1702 to 1703. The Equiv ...

. He did not stand for

at the election of 1708, but remained on the Equivalent commission until it was dissolved in 1719. He supported the Hanoverian succession in 1714.David Wilkinson
SWINTON, Sir John (bef. 1662-1723), of Swinton, Berwicks.
in ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715'' (2002). Swinton was married firstly in 1674 to Sarah, daughter of William Welch of London; they had one daughter. His wife died in about 1690, and he was married secondly on 17 February 1698 to Anne, daughter of

Sir Robert Sinclair, 1st Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Longformacus Longformacus ( gd, Longphort Mhacais) is a small village in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is around north-west of Duns, in the Lammermuir Hills. The Dye Water runs through the village, flowing east towards its confl ...

. They had four sons and three daughters. Sir John Swinton died in 1723 and was succeeded by his eldest son John.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swinton, John 1723 deaths Scottish knights People from Berwickshire Scottish expatriates in the Netherlands Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1689–1702 Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1702–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 Shire Commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies