Albert Swindells

Albert Swindells was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire in 1902 and began work as an apprentice at Brocklehurst Mills, one of the most important silk mills in the town, at the age of 14. He came from a family with various links to the textile industry; his father was a silk dyer, and his mother was a cotton weaver. He went on to study at the Macclesfield School of Art, at first in the evenings and later moving to full time. In 1921 he was awarded one of the Owen Jones prizes for a linen damask. This led to him be recognised by Frank Warner, the son of Benjamin Warner, who was recruiting his designers from art schools around the country after having lectured there. Swindells moved to work at the Warner & Sons London studio in 1923, and then to Braintree where he worked as one of the staff designers, alongside Bertrand Whittaker and Alec Hunter. In 1925, joined by Whittaker, Woodman and Charles Ebel, Swindells travelled to Paris to the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Arts, an event that pushed forward modern geometric design. He transferred to New Mills, Braintree in c.1933. He worked on some important projects at Warner & Sons including the Utility Scheme, with Enid Marx. Swindells continued to design at New Mills, Braintree until his death in 1950 making him one of the longest serving designers at Warner & Sons.