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"OWSTON, a parish mainly in the W. division of the wapentake of Manley, parts of Lindsey, county Lincoln, but partly in the county of Nottingham, 3½ miles S.E. of Epworth, and 9 N. of Gainsborough. It is situated in the Isle of Ely, and extends along the W. bank of the river Trent, from Heckdyke Lane End, in the county of Nottingham, to the village of Althorpe, a distance of 9 miles. The parish comprises the townships of Gunthorpe, Heckdyke, Melwood, Owston, and the flourishing market town and seaport of West Ferry. The soil is rich, and in a high state of cultivation. The manufacture of sacking and sailcloth is extensively carried on, and at West Ferry are a brewery, ropewalk, boatbuilding yard, and mills for corn and oil-cake."(There is more of this description)..
"EAST FERRY, a hamlet in the parishes of Owston and Scotton, wapentake of Corringham, parts of Lindsey, county Lincoln, 3 miles W. of Kirton-in-Lindsey, and 5 W. of Scotton. It is situated on the river Trent, opposite West Ferry, with which there is communication by boat. In the hamlet there is a chapel-of-ease to Scotton, and one belonging to the Primitive Methodists.
"GUNTHORPE, a hamlet in the parish of Owston, W. division of the hundred of Manley, parts of Lindsey, county Lincoln, 5 miles N. of Gainsborough. It is situated on the banks of the river Trent."
"HECKDYKE, a hamlet partly in the parish of Owston, county Lincoln, and partly in the parish of Misserton, county Notts, 4 miles N. of Gainsborough. It is situated near the river Trent, which is here joined by the Heckdyke rivulet."
"KELFIELD, a hamlet in the parish of Owston, hundred of Manley, parts of Lindsey, county Lincoln, 3 miles N. E. of Epworth. It is joined to the chapelry of West Butterwick."
"MELWOOD, a hamlet in the parish of Owston, county Lincoln, 2 miles S.E. of Epworth."
"WEST BUTTERWICK, a joint township with Kelfield, in the parish of Owston, wapentake of Manley, parts of Lindsey, in the county of Lincoln, 2 miles to the N.E. of Epworth. It is on the W. bank of the river Trent, opposite East Butterwick. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Lincoln, value £117, in the patronage of the Vicar of Owston. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. The Wesleyans have a chapel in the village.
"WEST FERRY, a hamlet in the parish of Owston, W. division of the wapentake of Manley, parts of Lindsey, county Lincoln, 3 miles S. of Epworth, and 9 N. of Gainsborough. It is situated on the river Trent. Formerly a market, established by charter of Edward IV., was held here, which, after having fallen into disuse, has lately recovered somewhat of its former importance. Sail-cloth, sacking, bricks, and tiles are manufactured, and boat-building is carried on. There are corn and oil-cake mills. The Primitive and Reformed Methodists have each a chapel, and there are two schools. Markets for live stock are held on Mondays in the spring and autumn of the year. A feast is held on the Sunday after the 21st August, and on the Monday a cattle fair. A statute fair for hiring servants is held on 24th November.
[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2020
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The Gainsborough Library is an excellent resource with both a Local History section and a Family History section.
- A cemetery of 1.5 acres was formed in 1881 and land purchased in 1883. It was under the control of the parish council.
| Epworth Road, Owston Ferry, Cemetery |
- 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. 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 and includes the township of West Butterwick-with-Kelfied.
If you are planning a visit:
- Visit our touring page for more sources.
- Ask for a calculation of the distance from Owston to another place.
- 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.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SE809003 (Lat/Lon: 53.493196, -0.78206), Owston which are provided by:
- OpenStreetMap
- Google Maps
- StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
- Bing (was Multimap)
- Old Maps Online
- National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
- Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
- English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
- Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
- GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)
- All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- 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 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 1843 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 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.
The local genealogical society is the Isle of Axholme FHS.