Zoologist and geologist, born on 17 September 1875 at Bungay, the son of the Rev. George Frederick Swinnerton (1839-1917; e.m. 1864) and educated at Woodhouse Grove and Kingswood schools. He began a teaching career in Trowbridge, but continued his studies by correspondence course and at the Royal College of Science, University of London, graduating in 1898. In 1902 he was awarded a DSc for research on the cranium of the stickleback. In 1901 he became a lecturer, and later Professor in natural sciences at University College, Nottingham, where he established departments of natural science (1902) and geology and geography (1912). He contributed significantly to the understanding of fossils and was an outstanding lecturer, pioneering field studies and the use of visual aids. His major published work was Outlines of Palaeontology (1923).In 1942 he received the Geological Society's Murchison Medal and in 1950 was made a CBE for his long and distiguished service to university education. He retired to Hertfordshire in 1946. An active member of the Methodist Church throughout his life, he was a local preacher and Sunday School teacher. He died at Elstree, Herts. on 6 November 1966.

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