Swanbourne Swanbourne

Swanbourne - Definition and Overview

For the suburb of Perth, Western Australia see Swanbourne.


Swanbourne is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Aylesbury Vale, about two miles east of Winslow, three miles west of Stewkley.

The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'swan stream'. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 792 the village was recorded as Suanaburna.

The manor in Swanbourne used to belong to Woburn Abbey, but now belongs to the Fremantle family. The Fremantle family, originally from Aston Abbotts, have a strong naval tradition. Sir Thomas Francis Fremantle (1798-1890) had huge interests in Australia which is why there is a Fremantle, Swanbourne and Cottesloe named for him in Western Australia. He was later created 1st Baron Cottesloe. The large Manor House still owned by the Fremantle family trust is now a prep school. Various members of the Fremantle family now live in more modest houses in the village.

The present head of the family is Commander John Tapling Fremantle, 5th Baron Cottesloe. Lord Cottesloe, a former Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire still lives in the village, as does his daughter Elizabeth, The Hon. Mrs. Duncan Smith with her husband Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative politician.

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