James Alfred Swan was born in London, England 1875 [or 1876 - sources differ] and was articled to Thomas Walter Francis Newton (c.1862-1903) in Birmingham. He also studied at Birmingham School of Art and the LCC Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. Swan commenced independent practice in Birmingham in 1900 and was subsequently in partnership at various times with Arthur Ernest McKewan (1870-1947) and other architects. He also taught at Worlverhampton College of Art, Tattenhall College, and Shrewsbury School of Art. He was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1911 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1915. He was also an Associate of the Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham (RBSA), and a Member of Birmingham Architectural Association.
Awards received by Swan included the Soane Medal and the National Gold Medal, South Kensington, 1897. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and the Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham, between 1906 and 1940.
Swan's address was given as 56 Newall Street, Birmingham and Lanfine, Lightwoods Hill, Warley, Birmingham in 1914; and Daimler House, Paradise Street, Birmingham in 1924 and 1939. He died in Smethwick, Worcestershire on 12 [or 13 - sources differ] March 1952
In addition to numerous private residences in the Birmingham and West Midlands area of England, Swan designed the Mint in Birmingham; schools in Shrewsbury and Wellington; the Carnegie Library in Keighley, Yorkshire; and war memorials for St. Matthew's Church in Birmingham, the Mint in Birmingham and Wollaston Church in Stourbridge.
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Obituary’. The Buildfer vol. 182, 28 March 1952 p. 490