Grimsby illustrated billhead; Thomas W. Swaby, general and fancy dealer, of The Warehouse, Freeman Street Xmas 1903.

An original, illustrated billhead from Christmas 1903. Thomas William Swaby, general and fancy draper, was still at 155 to 161 Freeman Street, on the Newmarket Street corner, in 1937. The shops were later occupied by Smarts, furnishers. The buildings still exist. (Hardy Swaby, another draper’s shop was at 40 Freeman Street in around 1921. Did this business belong to Thomas Hardisty Swaby? See below.) Mr Towler of St Peters Road (Avenue) was William Inge Towler, clockmaker / watchmaker. A history of the Swaby family: Thomas William Swaby (1858-1923) was born in York in 1858. He was an apprentice draper in York in 1871 and working as a draper in Scarborough in 1876. He married Elizabeth Clara Appleyard (1858-1926) of Cleethorpes in Scarborough on 16th September 1876. (Elizabeth’s grandfather was Robert Swaby, fish merchant, born North Coates.) The couple were living at 45 East Mount, Road, York when daughter Gertrude (1878-1960) was born in 1878. Thomas and Elizabeth’s first son, Thomas Hardisty Swaby (1879-1928+), was born in Grimsby in 1879, a year after Gertrude was born in York. Their second son, William Hardisty Swaby (1880-1938) was born in 1880. There are only birth and death records for William. Their third son, Herbert Cecil Swaby, was born in Grimsby in 1884. Herbert Cecil Swaby died in 1892, aged 8. Their fourth son, Jeffray William Swaby (1898-1966), was born in Killingholme (or Grimsby??) on 16th July 1898 and baptised in Ashby cum Fenby. The family was living at 344 Victoria Street North in 1881, 68 Heneage Street in 1891, 66 Heneage Street in 1901 and “Oakdene”, 4 Eleanor Street in 1911. Thomas Hardisty Swaby was a student at King Edward VI Grammar School in Louth. He left in 1897. Jeffray William Swaby was a boarder at Brigg Grammar School – Prep. (1908-1910). He left due to ill health. He then returned to Winteringham Secondary School, Grimsby (Grimsby Municipal College) (1906-1908 & 1911 to 1913) and then moved to Worksop College. Jeffray William Swaby was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps during WW1. Thomas William Swaby (1858-1923) died on 6th June 1923. Probate was granted to Elizabeth Clara Swaby, widow, Thomas Hardisty Swaby and Jeffray William Swaby, drapers. Elizabeth Clara Swaby of “Ebor” 429 Heneage Road Grimsby died on 20th September 1926. Probate was granted to Thomas Hardisty Swaby and Jeffray William Swaby, drapers. Thomas Hardisty Swaby married Eliza Jane Boyle in Grimsby in 1922. William Hardisty Swaby married Eliza Jane? Jeffray William Swaby married Jessie Frances Cook in Clee in 1926. William Hardisty Swaby of 76 Weelsby Road died in Grimsby in 1938. Jeffray William Swaby of “Marine Cottage”, Gibraltar Road, Mablethorpe died on 25th March 1966. A Hardy Thomas Swaby was living at 40 Heneage Road in 1928. Research by Grimsby and Cleethorpes Museum. Note: Thomas Hardisty Swaby and (Eliza) Jane Swaby, née Boyle, had three children in Grimsby; Ruth (1923-2019), Tony Wallace (1925-1999) and Peter Hardisty (1930-2006). Ruth married a Canadian, Leonard Bawtree (1924-2014), in Louth in 1945. She died in Enderby BC in 2019. (Why did she give her father as William Hardisty Swaby? Is there a mistake in the transcriptions somewhere?) Note: Eliza Jane Swaby married George J. Gibbins in Louth in 1951. Note: The graves and memorial stones for Thomas William and Elizabeth Clara Swaby, Herbert Cecil Swaby and Jeffery (Jeffray) William Swaby are in Scartho Road Cemetery. William Hardisty Swaby is in another grave at Scartho Road Cemetery. Note: An Elizabeth Swaby married a Richard John Nelson at Scarborough on the same day in 1876 as Thomas William Swaby (1858-1923) married Elizabeth Clara Appleyard. The father of the siblings was Thomas Swaby (deceased), fish and game dealer. They shared a witness, Edith Mary Wrake. As pointed out earlier, Elizabeth Clara Appleyard’s grandfather was a Robert Swaby of North Coates. Is there a family link?