Jonathan Swift

BRYAN SWYFTE had a grant from Lewis de Beaumont, Bishop of Durham (who died 1333), of part of the lordship of Allergill, County Durham, to be held of the palatine earldom of the Bishop by service of the eighth part of a knight's fee.

He was succeeded by his son,

SIR HUMPHREY SWYFTE, Knight, of Allergill, who married a daughter of Alexander, of Beddick, and was succeeded by his son,

JOHN SWYFTE, of Allergill, who wedded Maria, daughter of John Hedworth, and was succeeded by his son,

EDMOND SWYFTE, of Allergill, who espoused Margaret, daughter of Thomas Trollope, of Thornley, County Durham, and was succeeded by his son,

ANTHONY SWYFTE, of Allergill, who married a daughter of Sir Richard Surtees, Knight, of Dinsdale, and was succeeded by his son,

ROBERT SWYFTE, of Allergill, and of Rotherham, Yorkshire, who wedded firstly, a daughter of William Hansard, of Walworth, by which lady he had issue,

THOMAS, of whom presently.

He espoused secondly, Agnes, daughter of Martin Anne, of Frickley, by whom he had two sons,

Robert, of Rotherham;
William, of Rotherham.

The eldest son,

THOMAS SWIFTE, of Allergill, was father of

HENRY SWIFTE, of Sheffield; at whose decease he left two sons, viz. Sir Francis Swifte, knighted 1616, who died in 1642; and

THE REV THOMAS SWIFT, Rector of St Andrew's, Canterbury, Kent, 1566-92, who was buried in Canterbury Cathedral.

He married Margaret, daughter of daughter and heir of the Rt Rev Dr Thomas Godwin, Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells, and left an only son,

THE REV THOMAS SWIFT (1595-1658), Vicar of Goodrich and Rector of Bridstow, Herefordshire, distinguished for his active devotion in the cause of CHARLES I, and to the person of his son, Prince Charles (afterwards CHARLES II, during the latter's protracted wanderings.

He wedded Elizabeth, daughter of John Dryden, sister of Sir Erasmus Dryden, 1st Baronet, of Canons Ashby, and grand-aunt of John Dryden, the poet, by which lady he had (with four daughters) ten sons, of whom,

Godwin, succeeded him;
Dryden, dsp;
Thomas;
William;
JONATHAN, of whom we treat;
Adam, of Greencastle, County Down.

The fifth son,

JONATHAN SWIFT (1640-67), of Dublin, a solicitor, espoused Abigail Erick, of Leicestershire, by whom (who died in 1700) he left, with a daughter, Jane, a posthumous son,

Jonathan Swift (Image: Bodeian Libraries)

THE VERY REV DR JONATHAN SWIFT (1667-1745), the celebrated Dean of St Patrick's, born in Hoey's Court, Dublin, who has related many anecdotes of his grandfather's loyalty in his account of Anecdotes of the Family of Swift, the original manuscript of which is still preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.

Dr Swift died unmarried, and was interred at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.

First published in April, 2019.