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Families of Crosthwaite and Lyth

Click on the links below to go to the relevant article.


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


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.

The Brockbanks of Crosthwaite

George Brockbank, obituary notice, Westmorland Gazette, 17 January 1931

Letters from Canada

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 Here to go to Hartley's article on "Families of the Lyth Valley".

The Park Family of Crosthwaite & Lyth, c. 1901

PARK families of Crosthwaite and the Lyth Valley

Three accounts of families named Park with connections to the Lyth Valley

A note from Edwin Bowlas

In October 2012, Edwin Bowlas, having come across the Crosthwaite and Lyth web site, wrote to John Sceal of South Low at some length about his memories and upbringing in the Parish. With his permission this is what he wrote.

A note from Walter Duncan Park received in January 2018

I am a regular visitor to this website. I have previously read “A Note from Edwin Bowlas” and we have been in contact and are related. I also have a copy of “Cameos of Crosthwaite and Lyth, The Damson Valley” signed by one of the co-authors; some of my relatives are mentioned in this book. The remainder of his information is here.

Walter supplied the photograph of his Park family shown on the left.

Reminiscences from Edgar Park received in July 2020

While Edgar is a Park himself, his memories also mention other local families, particularly Dobson and Walling and the house at Broad Oak. Click here to read more.


WI Tree

Crosthwaite and Lyth W.I.

The Life and Family of Louise Mary Holme

A Living Memory project for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to mark the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme by members of Crosthwaite and Lyth WI

Remembering Louise M Holme O.B.E., Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps 1891-1920

Click here to read about the project undertaken by the Crosthwaite WI in 2016