Place:Lowesby, Leicestershire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Lowesby is a small civil parish situated in the Harborough District in Leicestershire, England . It is 8 miles east of the county capital, Leicester, and 90 miles north of London.

Lowesby parish is located 500 metres above sea level in a relatively hilly region. Other than Queniborough Brook there are no other sites of topographic interest in Lowesby, partially due to the intensive farming in the area. Lowesby Hall was first owned by Richard Wallaston from the mid 17th century and remained in his family until Anne Wallaston married into the Fowke family, in whose hands the Hall remained well into the 20th century.

Lowesby is recorded as early as 1086 in the Domesday Book, implying that the parish was founded sometime in the early 11th century. Lowesby is shown as a small agricultural centre with two plough teams consisting of five men each. The manor was held from Countess Judith (a niece of William the Conqueror) by a Norman called Hugh Burdet (aka Bourdet/Bordet), originally from Cuilly in Normandy, who made Loseby his family's home for many generations.

The Burdets founded Loseby church and gave its advowson to the Order of St Lazarus based at Burton Lazars who they supported for many generations to come. Relations soured though when in about 1290 the Order started to appropriate part of the parish's tithes for itself. Riots broke out over the ensuing years, Loseby's vicar was excommunicated and William Burdet's (died 1309) actions "polluted" the churchyard by bloodshed in 1297. Gradually order was restored to the village and in 1298 Sir William agreed to pay for the reconsecration of the church and to reconfirm his family's former grants to the Order but relations were never to be the same again.

Research Tips

• The map on the place-page for Billesdon Rural District illustrate the location of the various parishes.
• From this Findmypast page you can browse the Leicestershire parishes which have parish register transcripts online.
• From this Ancestry page you can browse the Leicestershire parishes which have parish register transcripts online.
• For both of the above sites, a subscription is charged. Transcriptions of these records may also be available free of charge on the FamilySearch website.
• A further collection of online source references will be found on the county page for Leicestershire.