Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
- Textual record
Parallel title
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Title statements of responsibility
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Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1900-1994 (Creation)
- Creator
- Swinton, W.E. (William Elgin)
Physical description area
Physical description
FONDS CURRENTLY UNDER REDESCRIPTION. The exact extent of the fonds is being determined.
Publisher's series area
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
William Elgin Swinton was born on September 30, 1900, in Kirkcaldy, Scotland to William Wilson Swinton and Rachel Cargill. He had one younger sister, Mary Swinton. He received his early education in Dundee, Scotland and graduated in 1922 from the University of Glasgow with a BSc. Swinton began his career in 1922 as an assistant in the geology department at the British Museum and was later appointed as a paleontologist and curator of fossil amphibians, reptiles and birds. During his career at the British Museum, Swinton gained an international reputation as an authority on dinosaurs and had many publications on the topic, including The Dinosaurs (1934).
In 1961 Swinton left Britain to become Head of the Life Sciences Division at the Royal Ontario Museum, combined with a post of professor of zoology in the Departments of Zoology and Geological Science at the University of Toronto. On July 1, 1963, Swinton was appointed Director of the ROM. After three years, Swinton was required to retire from his post due to a new University regulation that fixed retirement for administrators at the age of 65.
Upon leaving the ROM, Swinton resumed his scholarly activities as a professor at Massey College, University of Toronto. His last appointment was as a professor at Queen’s University in Kingston until 1979.
Swinton died in Toronto, Ontario in 1994, at 93 years old.
Custodial history
The exact year of the first donation of Swinton's records is unknown, though it is certain that the material was in the archives' holdings by 2005 when a preliminary listing of material and biographical sketch was written. The fonds was again inventoried through a file listing in 2010, and again in 2015. It is unknown if Swinton donated these materials himself, or if they were donated by another individual after Swinton's death in 1994.
A second donation (Accession 2022-018) of material was donated to the ROM in 2022. The materials were in the custody of Swinton until his death in 1994, at which point the material's custody was transferred to Miss Annemarie Liebeck, as the executor of Swinton's estate. Liebieck died in 2000, and the materials were then held by the executor of Liebeck's estate until their rediscovery and donation to the ROM in 2022.
Scope and content
Fonds consists of logbooks, subject files, and correspondence used by Swinton during his years of teaching. Other files include photographs and textual files related to Swinton’s early life in Britain, including his appointments at the British Museum, and his departure as Director of the ROM in 1966.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
FONDS CURRENTLY UNDER DESCRIPTION.
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
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Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Associated materials
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
Accompanying material
Copies of Swinton's publications, The Dinosaurs and Fossil Amphibians, Reptiles and Birds can be found in the Royal Ontario Museum Library and Archives' library catalogue and archives.
Alternative identifier(s)
Accession
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
- North America » Canada » Ontario » Toronto
Name access points
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Control area
Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules or conventions
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
2022 E. Thomas (Creation)
2/13/2023 E.Thomas (Arrangement note added.)
2/28/2023 E. Thomas (Accession identifier added.)