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The Andrew family have a longstanding connection with the village of Swanland which lies to the east of Hull. The material in the collection relates to three generations of wheelwrights; Thomas, William and Charles Andrew, whose workshop stood behind 34 Main Street. Thomas Andrew was a blacksmith and wheelwright and the early customer accounts from the 1860s and 1870s are related to his business (U DX184/1-3). His blacksmith's account book 1872 to 1874 is at U DX184/9. It is clear from the job listings that his business involved fixing small pieces of agricultural equipment such as axes, water cans and shears. He also manufactured new pieces of equipment. For example, on 21 January 1874 it was recorded that he made one new pig felling axe for 4s 6d. William Andrew continued this business.

Charles (Charlie) Andrew combined being a wheelwright with carpentry. The customer account books and notebooks about jobs done indicate that he repaired wagons and items of furniture (U DX184/4-6, 10). In addition, joinery work done on many of the new houses built in Swanland during a period of suburban expansion in the 1920s and 1930s was carried out by Charlie Andrew and his employees. Wages books are at U DX184/11-12. Charlie Andrew was a very active member of his village community and the miscellaneous family papers show involvement in the Swanland Independent chapel; in various patriot village celebrations, such as Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee, the silver jubilee of George V and the coronation celebrations of Elizabeth II; in the chief constabulary during the second world war and in the cricket club (U DX184/13-15, 19, 21-3, 25). He received a letter of thanks from Stanley Baldwin for his help during the general strike (U DX184/19a). The collection also contains sales and letting catalogues for Swanland Hall and the surrounding 700 acres of farmland dated 1928 (U DX184/18, 20). U DX184/26 is a packet of photographs of Swanland from the 1890s to 1946, one of which is a group photograph of local men including Charles Andrew. When Charles Andrew died, the business died with him; he was one of the last village carpenters to combine joinery with undertaking, employing a woman to lay out the corpses for him.

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