June Swann
Photo taken in 2016 during a visit by Brian Hoggard.
June Marion Swann MBE (1929 – 21 November 2025) was Keeper of the Boot and Shoe Collection at Northampton Central Museum for 38 years. During her lifetime she was acknowledged as the world's foremost expert on historic footwear. She is responsible for pioneering the study of concealed shoes and for setting up the Concealed Shoe Index at Northampton which has records of over 2000 individual finds.
Thankfully, she had the opportunity to meet with Ralph Merrifield before he published his book in 1987 which is certainly how I found out about the practice of concealed shoes in the first instance. She was always very kind and helpful in my experience and we corresponded a good deal about finds which were reported to me since around the year 2000. She had a very direct manner at times which I found refreshingly honest but sometimes people found this challenging. I particularly enjoyed her presence at the first Hidden Charms conference in Norwich.
RIP to a true pioneer.
June Swann, ‘Shoes Concealed in Buildings’, Costume Society Journal, no 30, 1996, pp56-69 - view this article.
Thankfully, she had the opportunity to meet with Ralph Merrifield before he published his book in 1987 which is certainly how I found out about the practice of concealed shoes in the first instance. She was always very kind and helpful in my experience and we corresponded a good deal about finds which were reported to me since around the year 2000. She had a very direct manner at times which I found refreshingly honest but sometimes people found this challenging. I particularly enjoyed her presence at the first Hidden Charms conference in Norwich.
RIP to a true pioneer.
June Swann, ‘Shoes Concealed in Buildings’, Costume Society Journal, no 30, 1996, pp56-69 - view this article.