Lyddell Swayer was born in North Shields in 1856. His father was a portrait painter who quickly adopted photography, moving to Newcastle and opening a studio in 1872. Lyddell worked at the studio and was soon being recognised for his ability. In 1882 he joined the Photographic Society of Great Britain (later the Royal Photographic Society), exhibiting over 100 prints over the years. He became a respected member of The Linked Ring, a society of like-minded photographers including most of the finest of the day. This included Frederick Evans, James Craig Annan, Margaret Cameron, Alfred Stieglitz, Gertrude Kasibier and Clarence White. In 1885 he opened his own studio in Newcastle and expanded locally before moving to London in 1895 where he opened a very successful studio in Regents Street. His clients included the leading celebrities of the day including Winston Churchill and Sir Henry Irving and several of his photographs are in the National Portrait Gallery.
His work was eventually exhibited all over the UK, the US, Europe and India. Sadly, relatively few of his prints survive today which is a factor in his lack of name recognition, but there is no doubt he was one of the preeminent photographers of his day and one of the finest photographers ever from the North-East.