Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Middleton Ryburn Swaney was born on 27 December 1896 at Temuka, the seventh and youngest son of James Hume and Harriet (née Crow) Swaney. James (from Scotland) and Harriet (from England) who married in 1880 in New Zealand, had seven sons and two daughters, two sons and one daughter dying in infancy. Along with his siblings, Middleton was educated at South Canterbury Schools – Temuka, Sutherlands and Pleasant Point, leaving there for the North Island in 1907. He was admitted to Frasertown School (Gisborne area?) in 1908. James Hume Swaney died in 1913 at Christchurch and Harriet in 1938, survived by her second husband, a daughter and four sons.

Middleton Swaney enlisted at Trentham on 16 December 1915, putting his age up by two years. He had served with C Company Canterbury until leaving the district. A labourer at Lower Riccarton, single and Presbyterian, he named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs H. Swaney, Kowai Bush, North Canterbury. Mrs Swaney was later at Akaroa, then care of her daughter, 182 North Street, Timaru. Middleton’s wife also became next-of-kin – Mrs M R. Swaney, at Salisbury (England), then at Ilford, Essex, and later at 16 Raymond Street, Timaru. Rifleman M. R. Swaney embarked with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade of the 3rd Reinforcements, departing on 6 May 1916 for Suez, Egypt. Private Swaney returned to New Zealand per the “Ruapehu”, arriving on 27 July 1919. He had served overseas in Egypt for over three years and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He was discharged on 26 August 1919, in consequence of being no longer physically fit for war service. He headed for Orton via Temuka.

He had married Amy Mary Louisa Blows at St Clement’s, Ilford, Essex, England, on 4 July 1917. They had a daughter, Amy Phyllis Harriet Swaney (known as Carla) born in 1918 at Ilford. Another daughter, Moana Ann Swaney, was born at Temuka in 1922. Middleton and Amy were at Orton in the 1920s and early 1930s, Phyllis starting school there in 1924. Middleton and Amy divorced in 1934, after separating in 1931. There was a third child (perhaps Lilia said to have been born in 1916, or perhaps Barry James Abley born in 1929). Both girls married as Abley. Middleton married Evelyn Mary Brunskill in 1937 at Taihape, while Amy married James Edward Abley in 1935. She married again later and died Nina Mary Louisa Cooper in 1980. The NZ Police Gazette of 2 July 1930 had issued a warrant on Middleton Ryburn Swaney for failing to maintain his three children, the complainant being Amy Mary Swaney. It was cancelled on 10 December 1930. Middleton and Evelyn had a son, John Middleton Swaney, born in 1948. Middleton and Evelyn farmed at Lake Okareka.

Middleton Ryburn Swaney died at Rotorua on 25 September 1970, aged 73 years. He was cremated at Rotorua, his ashes interred in the cemetery there. By his Will, he not only made provision for his wife Evelyn and son John but also made a bequest to his daughter Phyllis Harriett Sanders and mentioned his daughter Moana Woollsey. Evelyn Mary Swaney died in 1996 and John Middleton Swaney in 2014. His brother Inglis McGregor Ryburn Swaney also served in World War One and an older brother Thomas Henry Swaney enlisted for service. Their eldest brother Peter Swaney had served in the South African War. Two nephews served in World War Two – James Keith Palliser and Hugh Collard Swaney. John Swaney who died in 1917 while with the Training Unit was a cousin, his father being a brother of James Hume Swaney and his mother a sister of Harriet Crow.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [06 September 2025]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [06 September 2025); School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [06 September 2025]; Star, 22 August 1934 (Papers Past) [08 September 2025]; Rotorua Cremation records [06 September 2025]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Geneaology Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.