Profile Text
Swinton Byrne in 2019, photo by Denis Makarenko /Bigstock.com
Place of Birth: Kensington & Chelsea, London, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 6 October, 1997
Ethnicity: Irish, Scottish, English, Northern Irish
Honor Swinton Byrne is a British actress. Her roles include the films I Am Love , The Souvenir (2019), and its sequel, The Souvenir Part II , Drift (2023), and Fuze (2025); and the series The Crown and A Very Royal Scandal .
She is the daughter of actress, performance artist, and model Tilda Swinton and Scottish playwright, artist, and designer John Byrne. She is related to American actress Alexa Swinton .
Her father was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, and likely had Irish ancestry. The Swinton family is an ancient Anglo-Scots family that can trace its lineage to the Middle Ages. They are said to be one of three British Isles families that can trace their unbroken land ownership and lineage to before the Norman Conquest.
Honor’s maternal grandfather was Major-General Sir John Swinton (the son of Alan Henry Campbell Swinton and Marie/Mariora Beatrice Evelyn Rochfort Alers-Hankey). Sir John was born in St. George Hanover Square, London, England, and had Scottish, English, and Northern Irish ancestry. Honor’s great-grandfather Alan was born in Chelsea, London, England. His father, George Sitwell Campbell Swinton, was a politician, herald, and officer-of-arms. He was born in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, the son of Archibald Campbell Swinton, an author, politician, and officer-of-arms, from Kimmerghame, Scotland; and of Georgiana Caroline Sitwell, from Derbyshire, England. Alan’s mother, Honor’s great-great-grandmother, was Elizabeth “Elsie” Ebsworth, who was born in Russia, to an English father and to a Scottish mother. Honor’s great-grandmother Marie was born in Westhampnett, Sussex, England, the daughter of Cecil George Herbert Alers-Hankey and Gertrude Clare Fetherstonhaugh.
Honor’s maternal grandmother was Judith Balfour, Lady Swinton (née Killen, the daughter of Harold Charles Killen and Marion Spottiswood Balfour). Lady Swinton was born in Merribee, Barellan, New South Wales, Australia, and was of Northern Irish, Scottish, and English ancestry. Honor’s great-grandfather Harold was born in Prahran, Victoria, Australia, the son of William Wilson Killen, whose parents were Irish, his mother from Donegal; and of Marion/Marian Young, whose parents were also from Ireland, from Antrim and Down, respectively. Honor’s great-grandmother Marion was born in Hoiles Cottages, Colinton, Edinburgh, Scotland. Her father, Andrew Francis Balfour, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was a Captain in the Royal Navy; his own father, Honor’s great-great-great-grandfather, was John Hutton Balfour, a prominent botanist and professor of botany, who was President of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club. Marion’s mother, Honor’s great-great-grandmother Mabel/Mabelle Alice Truman, was born in Hastings, Sussex, England.
Sources: Genealogies of Honor’s mother – https://www.geni.com https://famouskin.com
Genealogy of Honor’s mother (focusing on her own mother’s side) – http://www.red1st.com