Captain who?
Captain Swabey, buried with his wife Mary Ann in St Peter and St Paul's churchyard may be the only resident of Cranfield to have (or be recorded as having) taken part in the Battle of Waterloo which is approaching its bicentenary. He was, it seems, decorated for his part.
The Parochial Church Council is seeking funds to restore the grave and headstone of this rather illustrious, sometime resident of Cranfield.
He sounds, to me, like a Trouble in Cranfield type of man. The link below from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online describes his period after he emigrated to Prince Edward island in the colony of Canada in 1840. He switched his political allegiances from Tory to Liberal and advocated land reform. The DCBO records:
He was especially vocal on the land question and increasingly advocated a radical approach as gradualist measures failed to abolish leasehold tenure. Swabey’s other major interest was education; he served 18 years on the Board of Education, actively promoted the Free Education Act of 1852, and vehemently defended its non-denominational aspect when the Bible question arose.
William Swabey was a vigorous Liberal partisan; both his ability and his change in party affiliation made him a controversial figure – a fact amply demonstrated when he returned to England in 1861. The farewell dinner tendered to him as a Liberal, and the salute fired in his honour as a lieutenant-colonel in the militia, caused a series of bitter exchanges in the local press.
http://www.napoleon-series.org/cgi-bin/forum/archive2009_config.pl?md=read;id=101913
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
Captain Swabey, buried with his wife Mary Ann in St Peter and St Paul's churchyard may be the only resident of Cranfield to have (or be recorded as having) taken part in the Battle of Waterloo which is approaching its bicentenary. He was, it seems, decorated for his part.
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| The European final England v France at Waterloo. It went to extra time and penalties |
The Parochial Church Council is seeking funds to restore the grave and headstone of this rather illustrious, sometime resident of Cranfield.
He sounds, to me, like a Trouble in Cranfield type of man. The link below from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online describes his period after he emigrated to Prince Edward island in the colony of Canada in 1840. He switched his political allegiances from Tory to Liberal and advocated land reform. The DCBO records:
He was especially vocal on the land question and increasingly advocated a radical approach as gradualist measures failed to abolish leasehold tenure. Swabey’s other major interest was education; he served 18 years on the Board of Education, actively promoted the Free Education Act of 1852, and vehemently defended its non-denominational aspect when the Bible question arose.
William Swabey was a vigorous Liberal partisan; both his ability and his change in party affiliation made him a controversial figure – a fact amply demonstrated when he returned to England in 1861. The farewell dinner tendered to him as a Liberal, and the salute fired in his honour as a lieutenant-colonel in the militia, caused a series of bitter exchanges in the local press.
http://www.napoleon-series.org/cgi-bin/forum/archive2009_config.pl?md=read;id=101913
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
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