Blair Swannell

Swannell was born in Weston Underwood, Buckinghamshire{{cite web | url=http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Buckinghamshire/WestonUnderwood.html | title=Western-Underwood War Memorials | work=roll-of-honour.com | date=1 July 1899 | access-date=28 August 2010}} on 20 August 1875 to William and Charlotte Swannell, and was the third child of at least five siblings.{{cite web | url=http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/Census/household_record.asp?HOUSEHOLD_CODE=1881BR_1531989&HOUSEHOLD_SUB=1&frompage=99 | title=Household record of William Swannell | work=familysearch.org | author=British Census of 1881 | access-date=30 August 2010 }}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/129345333 King's Sympathy for Major Swannell's Mother, The (Sydney) Referee, (Wednesday, 30 June 1915), p.13.] His father was a farmer, who ran a {{convert|423|acre|km2|adj=on}} farm which employed 17 adults and children. He was home schooled as an infant before beginning his formal education at Repton School.{{cite web | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3694804 | title=The English Football Team – A letter from Rev M. Mullineaux | work=The Brisbane Courier | date=1 July 1899 | access-date=30 August 2009}} After leaving school he attended the Thames Nautical Training College where he gained qualifications as a second mate.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/159284884 An Old Hesperus Boy: The Late Major Swannell, The Daily Commercial News and Shipping List, (Tuesday, 12 October 1915), p.4.] He remained single throughout his life.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/238919602 Major Swannell's Will, The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph, (Saturday, 7 August 1915), p.7.]

In 1897 he made his first visit to Australia, as a mate on a schooner.{{cite web | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1514760 | title=Further Australian casualties at the Dardanelles | work=The Argus, (Melbourne) | date=6 May 1915 | access-date=31 August 2009}} On his return to Britain, Swannell joined the British Army and served in South Africa during the Second Boer War,[http://www.colonialrugby.com.au/dual-internationals.htm Required: Football Boots & A Love of Country] colonialrugby.com where he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 35th Battalion (Buckinghamshire) Imperial Yeomanry on 20 January 1902.{{London Gazette|issue=27415|page=1733|date=11 March 1902}} He returned to the UK with his battalion on the SS Orotava in December 1902,{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Army in South Africa - Troops returning home|date=22 December 1902 |page=10 |issue=36957}} and retained the rank of honorary lieutenant when he resigned his commission on 3 February 1903.{{London Gazette|issue=27528|page=1215|date=24 February 1903}} It was reported that during his time in South Africa, he was personally recommended on the field for a commission by General Lord Methuen.{{cite web | url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=FS19090323.2.28| title=The Maori Footballers Tour| work=Fielding Star | year=1909 | access-date=31 August 2009}}

Swannell was a keen self-promoter, claiming a number of exploits that were so abounding, that his adventures were "too numerous to be recorded". These claims included: fighting among the insurrectionists in Uruguay, to have hunted seal down the South American coast and around Cape Horn as well as Labrador, and to have played rugby in France, Germany, South Africa, India and North and South America.{{cite news|last=Booth|first=E. E.|title=Notes by the Way|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZTR19250131.2.76.4|access-date=1 September 2010|newspaper=NZ Truth|issue=1001|date=31 January 1925|page=11}} Many of these claims are unsubstantiated. One claim that is problematic, made by the Fielding Star newspaper in 1909, was that he took part in the Cape Frontier war. This cannot be a reference to the Xhosa Wars as the last of that series of wars ended in 1879, when he was merely the age of four. An article from 1925, claimed he represented Wales and Argentina.

After touring Australia with the British Isles team for the second time in 1904, he settled in Sydney. A keen all-round sportsman he coached not only rugby but also hockey, was vice-president of the Sydney Swimming Club, and training senior military cadets for surf life-saving examinations.{{cite news|title=Royal Life-Saving Society.|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28135192|access-date=1 September 2010|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=2 March 1912|page=8}} He also joined the Australian Militia, and by 1914 had reached the rank of captain and had passed the promotion exams for the rank of major.{{cite web|url=http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/imagine.asp?B=8096469&I=1&SE=1|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121127211539/http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/imagine.asp?B=8096469&I=1&SE=1|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 November 2012|title=Service record of Blair Inskip Swannell|publisher=National Archives of Australia|access-date=1 September 2009}}

Swannell played as a forward, and in his last Test specifically at number eight. He was an unconventional and hard rugby player, known for his violent play.{{cite news|title=Rugby: The Late B. Swannell|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19150612.2.175|access-date=30 August 2010|newspaper=Evening Post |volume = LXXXIX|issue = 138|date=12 June 1915|page=12}}{{cite news|title=General Gossip.|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZTR19111014.2.8.2| issue =329|access-date=31 August 2010|newspaper=NZ Truth|date=14 October 1911|page=3}} He would turn up for training in unwashed kit, and wore the same pair of breeches for every game, again unwashed. His poor personal hygiene and overly violent playing style, made him an unpopular character in the eyes of other players.

Swannell first came to note as a rugby player when he represented English club team Northampton. It was while with Northampton that Swannell was invited to tour with Matthew Mullineux's British Isles team, on their 1899 tour of Australia. Swanell played in 17 matches of the tour including three of the four Tests against the Australian national team, missing only the opening defeat.{{cite web|title=Blair Swannell – Lions profile|url=http://www.lionsrugby.com/6012.php?player=74379&includeref=dynamic|work=lionsrugby.com|access-date=31 August 2010}} Swannell scored in only one game on the tour, a try in a win over the New South Wales Waratahs on 29 July 1899.{{cite web|title=NSW Waratahs 5 v 11 British & Irish Lions|url=http://www.lionsrugby.com/thetour/593.php?section=report&fixid=62221\works=lionsrugby.com|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130127192350/http://www.lionsrugby.com/thetour/593.php?section=report&fixid=62221%5Cworks=lionsrugby.com|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 January 2013|access-date=31 August 2010}}

File:1904 british isles rugby team.jpg

Swannell returned to Britain with the touring team, and was reselected for the 1904 tour, this time taking in Australia and New Zealand. Swannell played in 15 games, including all four Test Matches, three against Australia and the final Test against New Zealand. In the third Test, Swannell scored his first and only international points, a try against Australia in Sydney. The British Isles were victorious over the Australians, but lost the New Zealand match, this was the first international game that Swannell had been on the losing side. In the New Zealand clash, Swannell's violent playing style, was targeted by countering with equally rough play. He left the field at the end of the match with two black eyes, and bleeding, but with his spirit undaunted.{{cite news|title=Football: Notes by Full Back|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=OW19090331.2.409|access-date=31 August 2010|issue=2872|newspaper=Otago Witness|date=31 March 1909|page=61}}

When the touring British team returned home after the 1904 campaign, Swannell along with team-mates David Bedell-Sivright, and Dr. Sidney Crowther{{cite news|title=Notes By Full Back.|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=OW19050419.2.125.1|access-date=31 August 2010|newspaper=Otago WWitness|issue=2666|date=19 April 1905|page=60}} decided to remain in Australia, to begin new lives, although Crowther later returned to England. Swannell joined club team Northern Suburbs,[http://www.northsrugby.com.au/default.asp?id=19 Honour Board] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080930140954/http://www.northsrugby.com.au/default.asp?id=19 |date=30 September 2008 }} Northern Suburbs Rugby Club based in Sydney. In 1905 he was selected to play for the Australian national team, even though he had already faced them as an opponent on six occasions. The match was against New Zealand, and was the first overseas tour the Australians had undertaken; Australia lost 14–3.{{cite web | url=http://www.scrum.com/statsguru/rugby/match/19078.html | title=Australia tour – Dunedin, 2 September 1905 | work=scrum.com | access-date=30 August 2010}} Wallaby captain Herbert Moran didn't mince words when speaking of Swannell in Viewless Winds saying "Swannell was, for a number of years, a bad influence in Sydney football...his conception of rugby was one of trained violence"

With his playing career behind him, Swannell continued his involvement with the sport by coaching at youth and school level, namely at St Joseph's College where he coached the team to a number of championships. He was an advocate for team training and in particular for forwards to rehearse scrummaging and break-down techniques. He argued that the forwards won or lost the game.{{cite news|title=Value of Forward Play.|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15045876|access-date=31 August 2010|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=26 March 1909|page=10}} In 1909, he became Secretary of the Metropolitan Rugby Union, and in 1910 the club raised his salary from £200 to £250.{{cite news|title=General Gossip.|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZTR19100402.2.13.2|access-date=31 August 2010|newspaper=NZ Truth|issue= 249|date=2 April 1910|page=3}} Financial stress on the club lead him to resign in 1911{{cite news|title=In Financial Straits.|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19110106.2.47|access-date=31 August 2010|newspaper=Evening Post|volume= LXXXI |issue=4|date=6 January 1911|page=7}} to save expense, but he continued in an 'honorary position'.{{cite news|title=Turned Down Cold|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19140711.2.105|access-date=31 August 2010|newspaper=Evening Post|volume= LXXXVIII |issue=10|date=11 July 1914|page=14}} He also served as a referee from 1911{{cite news|title=Rugby Union: Third Grade Final|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15273302|access-date=31 August 2010|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=11 September 1911|page=6}} to 1914, earning praise for his ability to control the game.{{cite news|title=Football. Rugby Union. Review of the Season|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15362039|access-date=31 August 2010|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=18 September 1912|page=11}}

While in Australia, Swannell was often approached by the sporting press for his opinion on rugby matters. Particularly on clashes between British and Antipodean teams, including the 1905 New Zealand tour.{{cite web | url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=WCT19051031.2.10 | title=Topics of the Day | work=West Coast Times | date=31 October 1905 | access-date=24 August 2010}} He was vocal in his support for maintaining the amateur nature of rugby,{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Tony|title=Rugby's great split: class, culture, and the origins of Rugby League football|year=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-7146-4867-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dfyovsrc2OsC&pg=PA217|access-date=1 September 2010|page=217}} but did not side with Bedell-Sivright in denying that a stipend had been paid during the 1904 tour.{{cite news|title=Football: Notes by Full Back|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=OW19090317.2.290|access-date=1 September 2010|issue= 2870 |newspaper=Otago Witness|date=17 March 1909|page=57}} In 1908 he was also hired to write a series of articles for the Star on the topic of forward play, and scrummaging.{{cite news|title=Advertisement: Scrum Formation and Forward play|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14944305|access-date=31 August 2010|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=11 April 1908|page=3}}

File:C01998.jpg.]]

Already in the Australian Army, with the outbreak of the First World War, Swannell transferred to the Australian Imperial Force, retained his rank of captain, and was posted to Egypt, travelling on the SS Afric on 18 October 1914,{{cite web | url=http://www.cwgc.org/admin/files/Rugby%20leaflet.pdf | title=Rugby's War Dead | publisher=Commonwealth War Graves Commission | access-date=31 August 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618084637/http://www.cwgc.org/admin/files/Rugby%20leaflet.pdf | archive-date=18 June 2010}}Collings, M.K., "On Board the S.S. Afric", The Cowra Free Press, [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/99622752 (Wednesday, 11 November 1914), p.2]; [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/99623250 (Saturday, 12 December 1914), p.3]; [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/99691621 (Saturday, 23 January 1915), p.6]. (Driver Morton King Collings (288); nominal roll: [https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2175228]). arriving in Egypt on 3 December 1914.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/172185978 Letter from Mr. Kirby, The Don Dorrigo Gazette and Guy Fawkes Advocate, (Saturday, 16 January 1915), p.2.]

Although his promotion to the rank of major was effective 1 January 1915, his elevation in rank was not formally gazetted until 24 April 1915.Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 24 April 1915.

In April 1915, Swannell was part of the Australian forces that took part in the Gallipoli Campaign — an attempt to capture the Ottoman city of Istanbul.

Swannell and his men from D Company of the 1st Battalion,[http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/A04050 AWM Collection Record: A04050] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729072435/http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/A04050 |date=29 July 2012 }} Australian War Memorial, Referenced to correct statement in other articles that Swannell was part of C Company transported on the troopship SS Minewasska, landed at the peninsula on 25 April, and were immediately involved in heavy fighting after being diverted to reinforce the 12th Battalion.{{cite web|url=http://www.firstbattalion.au.com/Our%20Heritage.htm|title=Our Heritage – Gallipoli|publisher=firstbattalion.au.com|access-date=28 August 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707184518/http://www.firstbattalion.au.com/Our%20Heritage.htm|archive-date=7 July 2011}} In the buildup to the assault on the hill known as Baby 700, Swannell and his men were pinned down under heavy enemy fire. While attempting to show his men the best method of aiming their rifles, he was shot in the head and killed by a sniper.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/129350396 Football: How Major Blair Swannell Died In Action, The (Sydney) Referee, (Wednesday, 27 October 1915), p.13.][https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/239046070 Late Major Swannell: Footballers Mourn, The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph, Monday, 31 May 1915), p.9]; [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/179890722 Late Major Swannell, The (Brisbane) Daily Standard, (Tuesday, 1 July 1915), p.8.]

He is commemorated at Baby 700 Cemetery in Gallipoli,{{cite web|url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/604693|title=Casualty details—Swannell, Blair Inskip|publisher=Commonwealth War Graves Commission|access-date=1 September 2009}} and also with a plaque on the walls at Weston-Underwood church in Buckinghamshire.

In April 2015 for the centenary of the Gallipoli landings, fellow Northampton Saints and England rugby international Ben Foden, was featured narrating tributes to Swannell on both BBC TV regional news and Radio Northampton.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-32414533| title=Northampton Saints' rugby star who died at Gallipoli |access-date=27 April 2015 |date=24 April 2015|first=Ben |last=Foden| work=BBC News}} Foden penned and read the following message at the grave of Blair Swannell in Turkey:

;From the turf of Franklin's Gardens where you stood,

;To the shores of Gallipoli where you fell,

;A truer Saintsman I know not,

;Forever bleeding green, black and gold.

;Rest in peace

• List of Australian military personnel killed at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915
• List of international rugby union players killed in action during the First World War

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Blair Swannell}}

{{div col}}

• [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/221617959/15364622 Supplement to the Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales, No.45, (Friday, 7 April 1911), p.2027]: Appointment of "Swannell, Blair Inskip" as Justice of the Peace — effective 7 April 1911.
• [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232514692 Military Forces of the Commonwealth: Commonwealth Military Cadet Corps: New South Wales: Senior Cadets, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No.70, (Saturday, 16 September 1911), p.1914]: Provisional appointment of Lieutenant Blair Inskip Swannell – effective 4 September 1911.
• [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232445183 Military Forces of the Commonwealth: Commonwealth Military Cadet Corps: 2st Military District: Senior Cadets, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No.47, (Saturday, 20 July 1912), p.1300]: Confirmation of the provisional appointment of Lieutenant Blair Inskip Swannell – effective 27 June 1912.
• [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232447159 Military Forces of the Commonwealth, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No.80, (Saturday, 21 December 1912), p.2667]: Temporary appointment of Lieutenant Blair Inskip Swannell as Area Officer (Darlington), seconded from Senior Cadets – effective 16 December 1912.
• [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232447159 Military Forces of the Commonwealth: Commonwealth Military Cadet Corps: 2nd Military District: Senior Cadets, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No.14, (Saturday, 22 February 1913), p.467]: Promotion of Lieutenant Blair Inskip Swannell to captain – effective 10 February 1913.
• [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232448315 Australian Imperial Force: Appointments: 1st Infantry Brigade, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No.71, (Saturday, 12 September 1914), p.2164]: Captain Blair Inskip Swannell (Senior Cadets) seconded for service with the Australian Imperial Force (1st Battalion, 1st Infantry Brigade) — effective 3 September 1914.
• [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232451628 Australian Imperial Force: Appointments, Promotions, etc.: Promotions, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No.32, (Saturday, 24 April 1915), p.735]: Promotion of Captain Blair Inskip Swannell to Major – effective 1 January 1915.
• [https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1672049 Roll of Honour: Blair Inskip Swannell, Australian War Memorial.]
• [https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ViewPDF.aspx?B=8096469&D=D World War I Service Record: Blair Inskip Swannell, National Archives of Australia.]
• {{Cite book |last=Griffiths |first=John|title=British Lions |year=1990 |publisher=Crowood Press |location=Swindon |isbn=1-85223-541-1}}
• Howell, Max (2005) Born to Lead – Wallaby Test Captains, Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ
• McCrey, N. Into Touch: Rugby Internationals Killed in the Great War, Pen & Sword Military, (Barnsley), 2014.
• Moran, Paddy Viewless Winds – the recollections and digressions of an Australian surgeon; P Davies Pub., London (1939)

{{div col end}}

{{Good article}}

{{British and Irish Lions 1899}}

{{British and Irish Lions 1904}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swannell, Blair}}

Category:1875 births

Category:1915 deaths

Category:Military personnel from Buckinghamshire

Category:English rugby union players

Category:Rugby union flankers

Category:People from the Borough of Milton Keynes

Category:British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England

Category:Northampton Saints players

Category:Australian rugby union players

Category:Australian military personnel killed in World War I

Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War

Category:Australian Army officers

Category:People educated at Repton School

Category:Australia international rugby union players

Category:Imperial Yeomanry officers

Category:English emigrants to Australia

Category:Burials at Baby 700 Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery

Category:Rugby union players from Buckinghamshire

Category:Rugby union number eights

Category:Northern Suburbs Rugby Club players

Category:New South Wales rugby union team players

Category:East Midlands RFU players