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A Heatley, The Government of the Northern Territory, 1979; A City Grows, 1986; D Lockwood, The Front Door, 1969.
ALISTAIR HEATLEY, Vol 3.SUN MOW LOONG: see KWONG SUE DUKSWANNIE, JAMES LESLIE (JIM) (1908–1996), merchant, businessman, barman, storeman, musician and
gambler, was born on 19 August 1908 in North Sydney, the youngest of three children born to Archibald Ernest
Swannie and Alice Mary, nee O’Shea. The name Swannie comes from the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland.
The family lived in Essendon, Melbourne, in Victoria. Swannie’s mother and elder brother died while he was still
a child, both from tuberculosis. Swannie was educated at St Monica’s Christian Brothers School in Essendon.
He had to leave school at age 16 to help his father in his ships’ providoring business, the Melbourne Dairy Produce
Company.
Always a keen musician, although he had no formal training, Swannie had his own jazz group, the Kit-Kats,
which he formed when he was 19. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the group played regularly at pubs and clubs
throughout Melbourne. In 1936, Swannie married Doris Eugenie Seymour in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.
There were two boys and two girls from the marriage. In the lead-up to the Second World War Swannie enlisted,
but was not accepted as he was in a reserved occupation. When his father died in 1941, Swannie took over the
company and ran it until he sold it in 1952. Several disastrous business ventures followed, including a hotel and
a co-operative provisions business with his in-laws. Swannie eventually bought a country store and post office
at Darnum near Melbourne. His wife, however, did not like country life, and the family returned to Melbourne.
Swannie took a job as overseer on the building of the Great Ocean Road between Melbourne and Adelaide and
lived at Eyres Inlet.
In 1960 Swannie decided to ‘get as far away from Melbourne as possible’. He left Melbourne in a 1932 Ford
and headed north to Darwin, a journey that took him 10 days. He arrived in Darwin in July 1960. His first job was
as barman in The Buffs Club, then located in an old house on the corner of the Stuart Highway and Geranium
Street. The hours interfered with Swannie’s main interests of drinking and gambling, so he left to take a position
as storeman in the air freight department at Millars and Sandovers Hardware Store which was located near the
Victoria Hotel in Smith Street. In 1962, he started work at the Darwin Hospital on Myilly Point where he remained
for 10 years, first as storeman, and later in charge of the maintenance of the gardens and swimming pool of the
newly erected Nurses’ Quarters. Swannie enjoyed the lifestyle in Darwin in the 1960s. There was good beer
and companionship in the pubs and clubs, and music. Saturday night was the night to go and listen to Jim and
Dot Dwyer play at the old Returned Services League club in Cavenagh Street, and on other nights, there were
groups playing at the Buff Club or Jim Dowling’s Parap Hotel. Swannie used to stand in on the drums at times.
In 1972, Swannie was asked to go back to Victoria to look after the father of an old friend. He did not return
to Darwin until 1980 when, on having a big win on the horses, he made what was intended to be just a quick visit
back to the Territory. He stayed six months, then returned briefly to Melbourne before settling permanently in
Darwin in 1981.
Until his late 80s and suffering from spinal cancer, Swannie led an active life. He swam daily at Rapid Creek,
and trapped and caught crabs and fish to eat and give to friends. He spent much of his time repairing and renovating
discarded electrical devices and furniture to give away or sell. He enjoyed his beer, and his gambling. A slight
figure with twinkling eyes, he admitted that he has lost a fortune on backing the horses over the years. He died on
26 January 1996, aged 87, survived by his four children, Josie, John, Paul and Patricia. At his request, his ashes
were scattered on the waters of Fannie Bay by his many friends of the Sailing Club.
Interviews with J Swannie, 1995; Northern Territory News, 29 January 1996.
EVE GIBSON, Vol 3.SWEENEY, GORDON (1897–1984), missionary and patrol officer, was born at Springbank, South Australia.
His father was Irish, and his mother, though native born, was of Scottish parents. Sweeney attended several
schools in his primary years, before attending Adelaide High School. By 1916, he had completed a Diploma of
Agriculture at Roseworthy, where he was dux. In 1924, he completed a Bachelor of Engineering, before travelling
the next year to the Northern Territory as a field assistant with the Commonwealth Railways, surveying a route
for the line from Oodnadatta to Alice Springs. The first route had insufficient water for the steam engines and a
second route was surveyed in 1926. In 1927 Sweeney was involved in surveys at Borroloola and through to the
railway construction at Katherine. From 1928 to 1930, he was a surveyor with the Northern Australia Commission,
planning a road system for the Northern Territory.
During this survey, he visited most cattle properties and police stations and was very concerned over the
treatment of Aboriginal people. The missions offered the only opening to do constructive work among Aborigines
and in 1931, he joined the Methodist missions. He was in charge of farming and gardening at Milingimbi where he
met his first wife, Sister Olive Lambert. They were married in 1932. Later he was the superintendent of Goulburn
Island Mission and during that time, he undertook long patrols by boat and on foot on mainland Arnhem Land.
On his first long patrol from Reuben Cooper’s timber camp at Murgenella, west to Cape Don, he encountered and
reported the depleted number of Aborigines remaining on the Cobourg Peninsula. During 1939, he undertook an
extensive survey of the Liverpool River area as far east as Blyth River. He recorded the tribes, total population,
obvious sickness, languages spoken and the suitability of the country for agricultural purposes. His report, which