William (Bill) Anthony Swithin Sarjeant
1935 – 2002

Friends of folk music were sad to learn of the passing on 8th July 2002 of William “Bill” Antony Swithin Sarjeant, who as well as a folksinger was widely known as a geologist, paleontologist, avid book collector, fantasy writer, Sherlockian scholar, and heritage advocate. Our sympathy goes to hiswife Peggy and his three daughters, Nicola, Rachel and Juliet and their families.

Bill was born on 15th July 1935 in Sheffield, England and married Peggy in April 1966. Following a career as an academic geologist at Nottingham University, he and his family immigrated to Canada in April 1972, where he took up a position as Professor of Geology at the University of Saskatchewan, a position he held until his passing. His research work focused on the study of marine microfossils and on the history of the earth sciences, fields in which he was widely published and professionally recognized. In later years he expanded his field of studies to include that of fossil footprints. In 1995 he was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada.

Outside the university Bill’s interest in detective fiction and Sherlockian studies led to the publication of numerous articles and to the co-authorship with Alan Bradley of “Ms Holmes of Baker Street.” Under the name of Antony Swithin, he wrote a fantasy quartet entitled “The Perilous Quest for Lyonesse.” Bill has also been active in many fields in Saskatchewan, particularly heritage preservation, chairing a committee for protection of historic buildings, co-authoring a book and editing the Saskatoon History Review.

Bill became interested in folk music in his student days, and was later active with the Nottingham Folk Club, and began what became an important collection of books and records. In Saskatoon he continued his passion for folk music, singing and playing his harmonica, and was an anchor member of the Prairie Higglers, which has continued for more than two decades with a varying personnel, and performed extensively in Saskatoon and Regina. A double CD of the group was produced by Bill in memory of a former member, Hugh Hendry, and another was being completed by Bill at his death.

Bill played an active role in the Canadian Folk Music Society and its successors. He attending many meetings (including the one hosted by the BC Folklore Society in Duncan), served as its president and archivist, contributed many reviews and other articles to its publications, and took many photographs of singers and speakers for the record and publication. His extensive collection of folk music books and recordings is being deposited in the CSMT archive at the University of Calgary library.

Bill was perhaps happiest when singing in a small group, his huge repertoire refreshed from time to time from the old diaries in which he wrote his words, and embarking on long ballads, comic songs, and prairie folk material from his collection. It is appropriate that his funeral was followed by a gathering of friends on the lawn behind his house, who carried out one more of the many singarounds that have taken place there under Bill’s leadership.

David Spalding, August 2002. B.C.F. No. 17, p. 4.