Owston
- A cemetery of 1.5 acres was formed in 1881 and land purchased in 1883. It was under the control of the burial board of the parish council.
- Owston was the heart of the Owston sub-district in the Gainsborough Registration District.
- Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1841 |
H.O. 107 / 641 |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2405 |
| 1871 |
R.G. 10 / 3439 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2631 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Martin.
- The church building partly dates from the end of the 12th century.
- The church was rebuilt in 1844.
- The church seats 600.
- There is a photograph of St. Martin's Church on the Wendy PARKINSON Church Photos web site.
- Richard CROFT has a photograph of St. Martin's Church on Geo-graph, taken in 2005.
- Here is a photo of St. Martin's Church taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1603 as a collection of loose pages. The registers are continuous from 1709 on.
- The churchwarden account books have survived from 1660 to 1684.
- Check the Isle of Axholme Deanery to see which LFHS marriage indexes exist.
- The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was built in 1837. A Primitive Methodist chapel was built at Owston Ferry in 1838. For information and assistance in researching this chapel, see our non-conformist religions page.
- Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
- The parish was in the Owston sub-district in the Gainsborough Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
Owston is a parish, a township and a large village on the west bank of the Trent River about 8 miles north of Gainsborough. The parish covers some 5,350 acres.
Owston is one of the eight original parishes in the Isle of Axholme in the far northwest corner of Lincolnshire. See the histories and descriptions provided by the Isle of Axholme FHS. Owston is a village, a township and a parish on the west bank of the River Trent and 9 miles north of Gainsborough. Haxey parish is to the west and West Butterwick parish to the north. The parish includes the village of Owston Ferry and the hamlet of Gunthorpe and the township of West Butterwick-with-Kelfied.
If you are planning a visit:
- John WESLEY, of Methodism fame, used to preach here under a large elm tree.
- The MOWBRAY family had a fortified tower here, called Kinafare Castle, which commanded the passage of the River Trent. No traces remain of this tower.
- See the history of Owston provided by the Isle of Axholme FHS.
- Owston Ferry Smithy Heritage Centre & Village Museum has photos and old farm and boating tools, a working smithy, old relics that locals have found in their lofts. They've got copies of the indexes for the parish for visitors to consult. [Sheila WILSON]
- Gas Works were built in the village in 1864.
- The national grid reference is SE 8000.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the War Memorial at Owston Ferry on Geo-graph, taken in 2011.
For a photograph of the Owston Ferry War Memorial and the list of names on it, see the Roll of Honour site.
- This place was anciently called Kinaird Ferry.
- The name Owston is from the Old Scandinavian austr+tun, meaning "east farmstead." In the 1086 Domesday Book it is rendered as Austhun.
[A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991]
- The parish was in the West Division of the ancient Manley Wapentake in the West Lindsey district in the parts of Lindsey.
- In 1841, West Butterwick parish was formed from the northeast portion of Owston parish.
- In the 1972 government redistricting, Owston became part of the Boothferry District, which is now in the County of Humberside (formerly Lindsey, Lincolnshire).
- District governance is currently provided by the North Lincolnshire Council.
- Bastardy cases were heard in the Epworth petty session courts.
- The Common Land was enclosed here in 1803.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, the parish became part of the Gainsborough Poor Law Union.
- Miss Frances SAUNDERS had almshouses built in 1860 for six poor women.
- Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the almshouses on Geo-graph, taken in 2011.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
917 |
| 1831 |
1,409 |
| 1851 |
2,613 |
| 1861 |
2,520 |
| 1871 |
1,527 |
| 1881 |
1,322 |
| 1891 |
1,294 |
| 1901 |
1,204 |
| 1911 |
1,159 |
- The village of Owston had a Public Elementary School, rebuilt in 1842, that was built for 230 children.
- The hamlet of Gunthorpe had a Public Elementary School that was built in 1910 for 40 children.
- See our Schools page for more information on researching school records.
Last updated on 9-May-2015
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