John Swinton

- 1679

• Name	John Swinton  [1]
  Gender	Male
  Religion	1649	Swinton, Berwickshire, Scotland
  	Presbyterian - Covenanter
  Military service	1649	Berwickshire, Scotland   [1]
  	Lieutenant-Colonel in the Covenanter army. Previously with his father a member of the Committee of War for Berwickshire (1646, 1647)
  Occupation	1655	London, England   [1]
  	Member of Council of State for Scotland and Member of Parliament for Berwickshire
  	Swinton had been one of the first three Scots to be appointed to public office by Cromwell (as a commissioner for the administration of justice in 1652). He was only one of two Scots on the Member of Council of State for Scotland in 1655
  Religion	Abt 1656
  	Quaker
  	Time of his 'convincement', becoming a Quaker
  Imprisonment	Dec 1660	Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland   [1]
  	Imprisoned in Edinburgh pending trial for treason, following his arrest in Westminster
  Legal	Feb 1660/61	Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
  	Found guilty and sentenced to forfeiture and continued imprisonment, to 1667
  Imprisonment	Mar 1665/66	Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland   [2]
  	Held in Edinburgh Castle when he convinced David Barclay to become as Quaker
  Imprisonment	1672	Montrose, Angus, Scotland
  	Arrested with Robert Barclay when on a proslytising tour, and imprisoned for several weeks
  Title Suffix	23rd of that Ilk
  Death	1679	Borthwick, Midlothian, Scotland   [3]
  	At a house of Cockburn of Langton
  Person ID	I44838	East Jersey Genealogies
  Last Modified	16 Apr 2026

  
  

  Father	Sir Alexander Swinton,   b. Abt 1600   d. 1652 (Age 52 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Margaret Home,   b. Daughter of James Home of Framepath and St Bothans
  Relationship	natural
  Family ID	F31399	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Frances Hancock   d. 29 Mar 1699, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
  Marriage	3 Aug 1671	Westminster, Middlesex, England   [1, 4, 5]
  Family ID	F31217	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	16 Apr 2026

  
  

  Family 2	Margaret Stewart,   b. Scotland d. Dec 1662, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
  Marriage	1645
  Children	1. Isaac Swinton,   b. Abt 1653, Scotland d. 3 Jul 1687, Albany, New York, USA (Age 34 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   2. Margaret Swinton,   b. 1662, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   3. Alexander Swinton   d. 1687  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   4. Sir John Swinton   d. 1723  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F31372	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	16 Apr 2026

  
  

• Event Map

  Religion - Presbyterian - Covenanter - 1649 - Swinton, Berwickshire, Scotland Military service - Lieutenant-Colonel in the Covenanter army. Previously with his father a member of the Committee of War for Berwickshire (1646, 1647) - 1649 - Berwickshire, Scotland Occupation - Member of Council of State for Scotland and Member of Parliament for Berwickshire - 1655 - London, England Imprisonment - Imprisoned in Edinburgh pending trial for treason, following his arrest in Westminster - Dec 1660 - Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland Legal - Found guilty and sentenced to forfeiture and continued imprisonment, to 1667 - Feb 1660/61 - Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland Imprisonment - Held in Edinburgh Castle when he convinced David Barclay to become as Quaker - Mar 1665/66 - Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland Marriage - 3 Aug 1671 - Westminster, Middlesex, England Imprisonment - Arrested with Robert Barclay when on a proslytising tour, and imprisoned for several weeks - 1672 - Montrose, Angus, Scotland Death - 1679 - Borthwick, Midlothian, Scotland  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S3626] Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (Name: Oxford University Press; Location: Oxford;), Swinton, John (c.1620-1679), by John Coffey, 2004. [S3641] Miller, William F., The Record Book of Friends at the Monethly Meeting Att Urie, (Name: Friends Historical Society; Location: London; Date: 1910;), Part I, p91. [S3781] Swinton, Archibald Campbell, The Swintons of That Ilk and Their Cadets, p74. [S3781] Swinton, Archibald Campbell, The Swintons of That Ilk and Their Cadets, p73. [S3782] Miller, William F., "The Wife of John Swinton", p29.