John Wilson - 'statesman' farmer.
This picture would have hung at South Low for a time after his death.
THE TOWNSONS OF LYTH
An account of a Westmorland farming family
by John Townson.
John has chronicled the Lyth Valley branch of the Townson family through more than 300 years and saw how, for 200 years, they remained self contained and more or less self sufficient at Low in the Lyth Valley. If anyone can add to this story John would be very pleased to hear from you; his e-mail address is
The main text of his article is quite long. He has also provided transcriptions of wills and inventories that are on separate pages of the web site as below.
The Townsons of Lyth - main text
The Will of Leonard Townson, 1667
Inventories from the Wills of Thomas Townson, 1700 and Agnes Townson, 1715
Notes by the Revd. Frederick Cowper Townson, in 1927
COMING SOON
Townson Family Tree.
George Brockbank (smithy)
and
Granddaughter
Footpath to an Interesting Journey
- The Brockbank family of Crosthwaite and the Lyth Valley.
by Jean Abbey
Jean presents an account of her research into the family history of the Brockbanks of Crosthwaite and the Lyth Valley.
George Brockbank, obituary notice, Westmorland Gazette, 17 January 1931
Mary Humfrey was born 8th July 1875 in the Lyth valley. She emigrated to Canada in 1911 at the age of 35yrs, leaving her home in Pool Bank, Crosthwaite, and sailed out from Liverpool on the ship ‘The SS Victorian’. She arrived in Quebec on 14th July 1911. Click here to read more.
Hartley's Grandfather and grandmother on their golden wedding day.
Families of the Lyth Valley
by Hartley Trotter
Hartley is recording as much information as he can gather on the families that have dwelt in the Lyth Valley. We will be adding his findings to the web site over the coming months (years!).
Click below to go to Hartley's introduction and from there to the "Families of the Lyth Valley".