The original owner of the beautiful wardrobe was William Swinton Jr. (1860-1929) and was later given to a friend of the Giles family. It is part of the Giles Collection. William Swinton Jnr. was a Warrnambool Councilor 1903-20 and Mayor 1917-19, during which time Warrnambool declared a City (1918). William's father, William Swinton Snr. (c.1831-1901) arrived in Warrnambool in 1854 from Edinburgh, Scotland. He established the Swinton store in Timor Street in 1865 where it is still located. William Snr's grand-daughter, Doris Swinton (1904-1986) was one of Australia's most highly decorated nurses of World War 2 and for 16 years matron of the Warrnambool and District Base Hospital. There is a street in Warrnambool named after the Swinton family. The Giles Collection: There are many 19th century items of furniture, linen, and crockery donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by Vera and Aurelin Giles. The items are associated with the Giles Family and are known as the "Giles Collection". These items mostly came from the simple home of Vera's parents-in-law, Henry Giles and his wife Mary Jane (nee Freckleton), whose photos are in the parlour. They married in 1880. Henry Giles was born at Tower Hill in 1858. He was a labourer on the construction of the Breakwater before leaving in 1895 to build bridges in N.S.W. for about seven years. Mary Jane was born in 1860 at Cooramook. She attended Mailor's Flat State School where she was also a student teacher before, as a family legend has it, she became a governess at "Injemiara" where her grandfather, Francis Freckleton, once owned land. Henry and Mary’s family of six, some of whom were born at Mailor’s Flat and later children at Wangoom, lived with their parents at Wangoom and Purnim west, where Henry died in 1933 and Mary Jane in 1940. The wardrobe is also significant for its association with early Warrnambool history, being owned by William Swinton Jnr. who was a Warrnambool Councilor and Warrnambools first Mayor (1917-19) the son of an early colonial family, arriving in Warrnambool in 1854. The Giles family collection also has social significance at a local level, because it illustrates the level of material support the Warrnambool community gave to Flagstaff Hill when the Maritime Museum was established.Wardrobe, colonial, made of cedar wood. The doors of the wardrobe have a mirrored door between them and there are two large drawers below the doors, each drawer has two round wooden handles. The wardrobe was once owned by a William Swinton Jnr. It is now part of the Giles Collection.Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, wardrobe, bedroom furniture, domestic furniture, william swinton jnr., warrnambool's first mayor, warrnambool mayor, giles collection, henry giles, tower hill, cooramook, warrnambool breakwater, mailor’s flat, wangoom, 19th century furniture, doris swinton, swinton street warrnambool

Photograph with caption 'WAR NURSES had a happy greeting for each other when they met before the march began. Lt.-Col. E. J. Bowe (left), who served in all war theatres, smiles as she wel-comes Captain Mavis Michell (centre), who served with the British forces, and Captain Ann Swinton (right). Captain Swin-ton is one of Australia's most decorated war nurses. She wears the ribbon of the M.B.E.'Newspaper photograph with caption'25.4.??' [could be either 57 or 51]ethel jessie bowe, mavis michell, doris ann swinton

This book belonged to Agnes Swinton (b.1900). She was the daughter of John and Charlotte Swinton of Warrnambool. Her father, John, was the fifth son of William and Ann Swinton who came to Warrnambool in 1854 and established a store in Timor Street. The Swinton family still operates a commercial business in the same street and the name ‘Swinton’ is well-known in Warrnambool. Agnes’ sister, Doris had a distinguished military career in World War Two and was a long-term Matron of the Warrnambool Hospital. This book is of considerable interest as it belonged to a member of the Swinton family which has been connected with Warrnambool’s history since the 1850s. This is a leather-covered book of 216 pages, plus a Supplement of 12 pages. The text is printed in two columns to a page. The front cover has gold lettering printed into the leather. The cover is a little crumpled and some of the pages are dog-eared. ‘August 1922’ ‘Agnes S. Swinton, ‘The Brae’, 4 Merri Crescent, Warrnambool’ swinton family, warrnambool, history of warrnambool, presbyterian church, warrnambool