(John), a very celebrated English antiquary, was a native of the county of Chester, the son of John Swinton of Buxton in that county, gent. He was born in 1703. The circumstances of his parents were probably not affluent, as he was entered at Oxford in the rank of a servitor at Wadham college. This was in October 1719. It may be presumed, that he recommended himself in that society by his talents and behaviour, as on June 30, 1723, he was elected a scholar on a Cheshire foundation in the college. In the December following, he took his first degree in arts. Before he became master of arts (which was on December 1, 1726), he had chosen the church for his profession, and was ordained deacon by the bishop of Oxford, May 30, 1725; and was afterwards admitted to priest's orders on May 28, 1727. He was not long without some preferment, being admitted to the rectory of St Peter le Bailey in Oxford (a living in the gift of the crown), under a sequestration, and instituted to it in February 1728. In June, the same year, he was elected a fellow of his college; but, desirous probably to take a wider view of the world, he accepted, not long after, the appointment of chaplain to the English factory at Leghorn, to which he had been chosen. In this situation he did not long enjoy his health; and leaving it on that account, he was at Florence in April 1733, where he attended Mr Coleman, the English envoy, in his last moments. Mr Swinton returned thence to Venice and Vienna; and, in company with some English gentlemen of fortune, visited Preburgh in Hungary, and was present at one of their assemblies.

It is possible that he had not quitted England in the summer of 1730, for he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June that year, and admitted about three months later. It was probably while he was abroad that he was admitted into some foreign societies; namely, the academy degli Apulisti at Florence, and the Etruscan Academy of Cortona. On his return, he seems to have taken up his abode at Oxford, where he resided all the latter part of his life, and was for many years chaplain to the gaol in that city. It may be presumed that he married in 1743; it was then, at least, that he gave up his fellowship. In 1759 he became bachelor of divinity: in 1767, he was elected Coglos Archivorum, or keeper of the university records; and, on April 4, 1777, he died, leaving no children. His wife survived till 1784, and both were buried, with a very short and plain inscription, in the chapel of Wadham college.

It remains to take notice of the most important monuments of a literary man's life, his publications. These were numerous and learned, but not of great magnitude. He published, 1. "De Lingua Etruria Regalis vernacula Dissertatio," 4to, 19 pages, Oxon, 1738. 2. "A critical essay concerning the words Samaritan and Samaritans, occasioned by two late inquiries into the meaning of the demonists in the New Testament," 8vo, London, 1739. 3. "De priscis Romanorum literis dissertatio," 4to, 20 pages, Oxon, 1746. 4. "De Primogenio Etruriorum Alphabeto, dissertatio," Oxon, 1746. 5. "Inscriptiones Civitatis: five in binas Inscriptiones Phoenicias, inter rudera Civitatis nuper reperta, conjecturae. Accedit de nummis quibundam Samaritanis et Phoeniciis, vel insolitam praefliteraturam ferentibus, vel in lucem hactenus non editis, dissertatio," 4to, 87 pages, Oxon, 1750. 6. "Inscriptiones Civitatis: five in binas alia Inscriptiones Phoeniciae, inter rudera Civitatis nuper reperta, conjecturae," 4to, 10 pages. 7. "De nummis quibundam Samaritanis et Phoeniciis, vel insolitam praefliteraturam ferentibus, vel in lucem hactenus non editis, dissertatio," 4to, 36 pages. 8. "Metilla: five de quinario Gentis Metilae, e nummis vetustis ceteroque minimum notis, dissertatio," 4to, 22 pages, Oxon, 1750. 9. Several dissertations published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. As, "A dissertation upon a Parthian Coin; with characters on the reverse resembling those of the Palmyrenes," vol. xlix. p. 393. "Some remarks on a Parthian Coin, with a Greek and Parthian legend, never before published," vol. i. p. 16. "A dissertation upon the Phoenician numeral characters anciently used at Sidon," vol. i. p. 791. "Innumerable Parthicum hactenus ineditum conjecturae," vol. ii. p. 683. "A dissertation upon a Samnite Decarius, never before published," vol. iii. p. 28. "An account of a subterranean Decarius of the Pictorian family, adorned with an Etruscan inscription on the reverse, never before published or explained," vol. lxii. p. 6c. "Observations upon five ancient Persian Coins, struck in Palestine or Phoenicia before the dissolution of the Persian empire," vol. lxxi. p. 345. Other papers by him may be found in the general index to the Philosophical Transactions. 10. A part of the Ancient Universal History, contained in the sixth and seventh volumes of that great work. The particulars of this piece of literary history were communicated by Dr Johnson to Mr Nichols, in a paper printed in the Gentleman's Magazine for December 1784, p. 892. The original of that paper, which affords a strong proof of the steady attachment of Johnson to the interests of literature, has been, according to his desire, deposited in the British Museum. The letter is as follows:

"To Mr Nichols.

"The late learned Mr Swinton of Oxford having one day remarked, that one man, meaning, I suppose, no man but himself, could assign all the parts of the Universal History to their proper authors, at the request of Sir Robert Chambers, or of myself, gave the account which I now transmit to you in his own hand, being..." being willing, that of so great a work the history should be known, and that each writer should receive his due proportion of praise from posterity. I recommend to you to preserve this scrap of literary intelligence, in Mr Swinton's own hand, or to deposit it in the Museum, that the veracity of the account may never be doubted.—I am, Sir, your most humble servant.

Dec. 6, 1784

Sam. Johnson."

The paper alluded to, besides specifying some parts written by other persons, affirms the following divisions of the history to Mr Swinton himself. "The history of the Carthaginians, Numidians, Mauritians, Gaetulians, Garamantes, Melano-Gaetulians, Nigres, Cyrenaics, Marmarica, the Regio Sytica, Turks, Tartars, and Moguls, Indians, and Chinese, a dissertation on the peopling of America, and one on the independency of the Arabs.

In the year 1749, Mr Swinton was involved in a law suit, in consequence of a letter he had published. It appears from a paper of the time, that a letter from the Rev. Mr Swinton, highly reflecting on Mr George Baker, having fallen into the hands of the latter, the court of King's Bench made the rule absolute for an information against Mr Swinton. These two gentlemen were also engaged for some time in a controversy at Oxford; which took its rise from a matter relative to Dr Thistlethwaite, some time warden of Wadham, which then attracted much attention. Mr Swinton had the manners, and some of the peculiarities, often seen in very recluse scholars, which gave rise to many whimsical stories. Among the rest, there is one mentioned by Mr Bofwell, in the Life of Johnson, as having happened in the year 1752. Johnson was then on a visit in the university of Oxford. "About this time (he says) there had been an execution of two or three criminals at Oxford, on a Monday. Soon afterwards, one day at dinner, I was saying that Mr Swinton, the chaplain of the gaol, and also a frequent preacher before the university, a learned man, but often thoughtless and absent; preached the condemnation sermon on repentance, before the convicts, on the preceding day, Sunday; and that, in the close, he told his audience, that he should give them the remainder of what he had to say on the subject the next Lord's day. Upon which, one of our company, a doctor of divinity, and a plain matter-of-fact man, by way of offering an apology for Mr Swinton, gravely remarked, that he had probably preached the same sermon before the university. Yes, Sir (says Johnson); but the university were not to be hanged the next morning!"