Owston, Leicestershire Genealogy

Guide to Owston, Leicestershire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
OUSTON, a village and a parish in Billesdon district, Leicester. The village stands on an affluent of the river Wreak, 2½ miles W N W of the boundary with Rutland, 5½ W by S of Oakham r. station, and 7½ S by E of Melton-Mowbray.

The church seems to have been in good repair when the archdeacon made his visitation in 1776, but for some reason the parishioners went to 'extraordinary expenses' in 1791-3 to repair and almost rebuild the church. Lead rainwater heads and pipes have survived from the 18th-century restoration. In 1832 the building was said to be in a good state but had deteriorated by 1842 when there was a tree growing from the top of the tower, which was also cracked at its south-west angle. The large east window and most of the east wall of the church date from the late 19th century and the Perpendicular west window was probably restored c. 1864 when its memorial stained glass to Henry and Elizabeth Palmer was inserted. Most of the fittings date from 1860-1 when the church was restored under the direction of Henry Goddard of Leicester at a cost of £1,205. At this restoration the floor was relaid, the north aisle was re-roofed, windows were altered, and the pulpit, pews, screens, and a gallery were cleared away. Work on the tower included repairs to the bells, alterations of floor levels, and the completion of the spire. There are wall tablets in the aisle to the Revd. Charles Dickinson (d. 1786), Edward Barnard of Kibworth Harcourt (d. 1816), and Thomas Cole (d. 1813). On the external face of the north wall are tablets to the Revd. Everard Breton (d. 1755) and the Revd. Joseph Cragg (d. 1827). Slabs in the aisle are to members of the Green, Barnard, and Cole families. Tablets in the nave include those to John Heycock (d. 1823) and his wife and to Richard Raworth (d. 1795). A portion of a slab with an indent for a brass is reset in a small stone building immediately west of the church. There are 3 bells: (i) 1754, by Thomas Hedderly; (ii) 1699, by John Fawkes and Toby Norris; (iii) 1860, by John Taylor and Co. of Loughborough. (fn. 9) In 1860-1 the bells were recast and re-hung by John Taylor and Co. There is no ancient plate. The early parish registers cover the years 1753-73 for baptisms and burials and 1753-1810 for marriages.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church Records
Owston parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Records are also available at the Leicestershire Record Office.

Poor Law Unions
Billesdon Poor Law Union, Leicestershire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Leicestershire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain