The Swains in Australia

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Our Administrator, Mr. True, has recently received an interesting letter from Brisbane, Australia, written by Mrs. S. C. Foote, whose maiden name was Miss Nancy Swain. She wrote, in part: "My interest in the Swain Family began last year. My father, E. M. F. Swain, died in 1970, at the age of 87, leaving many writings. He was well-known as a Forester during his official life, and for putting together his story of early forestry in Australia, I have become involved in family history. I have also found a diary written by my grandfather, Edward Plant Swain. "We have also the direct Swain line, found in Los Angele's by an aunt in the 1930's, and find it beginning with Richard Swain, of Essex, England, who came to Nantucket with the first settlers, and continuing through his son John Swain, who married Mary Wyer, down through George, Daniel, James and Samuel. The last named was my great-grandfather, Captain Samuel Swain, born in Nantucket in 1799, and dying in Sydney, New South Wales, in 1842. He married Louise F. Fulchard, of London, and they had five children, the first two being born in America (no doubt Nantucket), and the others in Deptford, England, one of whom was my father, Edward Plant Swain. Captain Samuel Swain was master of the English whalers Vigilant and Bermondsey. "I soon began delving into family history through references in history books, and so on, until finally I found The Sea Hunters and mention of your association. "As mentioned my father was a pioneer in Australian forestry, retiring in 1948 from the position of Commissioner For Forests in New South Wales. His most notable work was done in Queensland, where he built up a Forestry Department in the 1920's. After his retirement he was employed by the United Nations in Food and Agriculture Organization as Advisor in ReForestration to Emperor Haile Selassi of Ethiopia (1951-1955), and from a diary he kept I have extracted a paragraph which may interest you: " '1950 — Whilst at FAO-UN head office in Terma de Caracalla, a bald-headed dapper bloke briefed me on Personnel, and his name, printed over his door, was Folger. " 'Around 1700, in Nantucket, John Swain married Elizabeth Folger. My grandmother's name was Fulcher, and I am E. H. Fulcher Swain. So I asked of Mr. Folger: " 'Do you come from the States?' " 'Yes.' "'New England?' " 'Yes — my family did.' " 'Massachusetts?' " 'Yes — Nantucket.' " 'Well, I ask you, isn't that getting pretty close to family connections?' "