Editing Joseph Swan (section)

==Early life==
Joseph Wilson Swan was born in 1828 at Pallion Hall in [[Pallion]], in the Parish of [[Bishopwearmouth]], [[City of Sunderland|Sunderland]], [[County Durham]]. His parents were John Swan and Isabella Cameron.<ref name= fsu>Davidson, Michael W., and The Florida State University. "Molecular Expressions. [http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/swan.html Science, optics and you. Pioneers in optics. Joseph Swan (1828–1914)]." Last modification 26 February 2004. Retrieved 16 November 2009</ref>

Swan was apprenticed for six years to a [[Sunderland]] firm of pharmacists/[[Pharmacists|druggists]], ''Hudson and Osbaldiston''.<ref name= RPSGB.org.uk /> However, it is not known whether Swan completed his six-year apprenticeship, as both partners subsequently died.<ref name= RPSGB.org.uk /> He was said to have had an enquiring mind,<ref name=RPSGB.org.uk /> even as a child. He augmented his education with a fascination for his surroundings, the industry of the area, and reading at Sunderland Library.<ref name= RPSGB.org.uk /> He attended lectures at the Sunderland Atheneum.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kstc.co.uk/josephswan/home.html|title=Joseph Swan: Biography| first=Jon|last=Plumley|website=www.kstc.co.uk|access-date=10 January 2018| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170506143128/http://www.kstc.co.uk/josephswan/home.html|archive-date=6 May 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Swan subsequently joined Mawson's, a firm of manufacturing chemists in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], started in the year of Swan's birth by John Mawson<ref name= RPSGB.org.uk /> (9 September 1819&nbsp;– 17 December 1867), the husband of his sister, Elizabeth Swan (22 November 1822&nbsp;– 2 August 1905). In 1846, Swan was offered a partnership at Mawson's.<ref name=RPSGB.org.uk /> This company subsequently existed as ''Mawson, Swan, and Morgan'' until 1973, formerly located on Grey Street in Newcastle upon Tyne, near [[Grey's Monument]]. The premises, now occupied by fashion retailer END., can be identified by a line of [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]]-style electric [[Street light|street lamps]] in front of the store on Grey Street.

Swan lived at [[Underhill, Low Fell, Gateshead]], a large house on Kells Lane North, where he conducted most of his experiments in the large [[Conservatory (greenhouse)|conservatory]].<ref>{{cite news| last= Newton |first=Douglas | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zNgPIKR8FK4C&pg=PA290 | title= Light and likeness | work=[[New Scientist]]| date= 26 October 1978 | accessdate= 30 December 2010}}</ref> The house was later converted into Beaconsfield School, a private fee-paying grant-aided co-educational grammar school.<ref name= BEAC>[https://books.google.com/books?id=mHAnAAAAMAAJ&q=Beaconsfield+School+joseph+swan Electrical times, Volume 145] p. 220. Retrieved 30 December 2010</ref> Students there could still find examples of Swan's original electrical fittings.<ref name= BEAC />