Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Alexander Wilsone Swinfen-Broun JP (1858-1948) was a soldier, magistrate, High Sheriff and Deputy Lieutenant of

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

,Inscription on Beacon Park monument and benefactor of the city of

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

, England, where he lived at

Swinfen Hall Swinfen Hall is an 18th-century country mansion house, now converted into a hotel, situated at Swinfen, in the Lichfield District of Staffordshire in England. It is a Grade II* listed building. The Hall was built in 1757 by Samuel Swynfen to a ...

Career

Swinfen-Broun joined the

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

in 1876, and was

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

in command of the 3rd (1st King's Own Staffordshire Militia) Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, from 3 December 1898. He was also granted the honorary rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

. The battalion was embodied in May 1901, and the following month left for service in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the So ...

. Following the end of hostilities, Broun returned with most of the battalion in July 1902. He was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

for his services during the war, and on 5 April 1905 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 3rd Battalion, and was its only remaining officer on the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in 1939.''Army List'', various dates. He was High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1907.

Philanthropy

Among Swinfen-Broun's many acts of charity were donations to Lichfield's Victoria Hospital, where he was president of the management committee from 1913-27. He donated 12 acres of land that now forms part of the city's Beacon Park. His bequests to Lichfield include the statues by Barcaglia (', "The Woman who Tries to Arrest Time") and Benzoni (a work known locally as 'the reading girl'). In 2008, the former was sold at auction at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

in London for £150,000, as the council was unable to provide a home for it with suitable conditions to prevent its deterioration. He also bequeathed his family home, the 1757 Swinfen Hall, to the Church and City of Lichfield. Most of the land was sold off and the hall stood unoccupied for many years until acquired in 1987 by the present owners and converted to an hotel. Other bequests included silver plate and sporting trophies to Lichfield City Council.

Honours

Swinfen-Broun was elected freeman of the City and County of Lichfield in 1936.

Memorials

He is commemorated by a memorial in Beacon Park, comprising two plaques on opposite sides of a block of sandstone, unveiled in 1972 by the then Mayor of Lichfield, Councillor W.J. Wilson J.P., who became the first chairman of The Swinfen Broun Charitable Trust. His family coat of arms is depicted in stained glass on the side of

Lichfield Guildhall The Guildhall is a historic building in Bore Street in Lichfield, Staffordshire in the United Kingdom. The guildhall is a Grade II listed building. History The guildhall takes its name from the ancient Guild of St Mary and St John the Baptist, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swinfen Broun, Michael People from Lichfield South Staffordshire Regiment officers Staffordshire Militia officers 1858 births 1948 deaths High Sheriffs of Staffordshire Deputy Lieutenants of Staffordshire English philanthropists