Harvard Club of Rhode Island

Tim Cranston can trace his Rhode Island roots back to 1637 when his ancestor John Cranston, a young boy of 12, was sent to the “colonies” by his father, a chaplain to King Charles, as he feared retribution would be rained down upon the boy by Cromwell during the long period of turmoil in England. Upon arrival he walked down the gangway to the young streets of Portsmouth and Newport and would later become colonial Governor. His son Samuel would one day marry the grand-daughter of Roger Williams, and eventually would become the longest standing governor in Rhode Island history. The Cranston family eventually went on to settle in the villages of Wickford and Swamptown. Today that long standing lineage, and inherent Rhode Island sense of place, is personified by Tim Cranston, self-proclaimed arbiter of all things “Swamp Yankee,” and local historian of Ye Old North Kingstown and South County, and all of Rhode Island. His popular local history column has run in the South County Independent for +20 year, earnings two RI Press Association "Spirit of RI" and three PreserveRI Education Awards. The culmination of Tim Cranston’s efforts to learn about the details of the history of the village of Wickford, once the RI Colony’s second most important seaport, is the “Walking in Olde Wickford” guidebook series, a four volume set of handbooks to the history of this critically important South County village.”
Check out this video for an example of Tim Cranston in action.