The Drury-Lowe Family of Locko: A Brief History
The Lowe family traces its origins back to Thomas Lowe (d 1415) of Macclesfield, Cheshire and Alderwasley, Derbyshire. Thomas's grandson Lawrence acquired property in Denby, Derbyshire, by marriage. Denby remained the main family home until John Lowe (1704-1771) of Denby purchased the Locko estate, the site of a former leper house at Spondon, Derbyshire, from the Gilbert family in 1746.
On John's death in 1771, Locko passed to his brother Richard (1716-1785), a woollen draper in Covent Garden, London, whose many interests included banking businesses in London and Manchester and supplying the army with clothing.
Like his brother John, Richard died without children and the family estates passed to his cousin William Drury (1753-1827) of Nottingham. William Drury's grandmother, Anne Lowe, was the daughter of John Lowe (1642-1722) of Denby and the aunt of brothers John and Richard Lowe. She married William Drury of Nottingham and Oakham, Leicestershire. Following his inheritance, William Drury assumed the name of Lowe by Royal Sign Manual dated 10 July 1790. He also had no son to succeed him. His only daughter, Mary Anne (1783-1840), eloped to Gretna Green in 1800 with Robert Holden (1769-1844) of Darley Abbey, Derbyshire.
Robert Holden and Mary Anne did not actually occupy Locko as William Drury Lowe's widow outlived them both. Upon her death in 1848, in her 104th year, the Lowe estates passed to their eldest son, William Drury Holden, who assumed the name and arms of Lowe. In 1819 Robert Holden had purchased the Nuthall Temple estate in Nottinghamshire and this and other Holden lands passed to William's younger brother Robert (1805-1872).
William Drury Lowe (Holden) was a great collector of paintings with a fascination for Italian art and culture. When he died in 1877 he was succeeded by his son William Drury Nathaniel Lowe (1828-1906), who obtained licence in 1884 to take the additional name of Drury and to bear the arms of Drury quarterly with Lowe. Two of William's younger brothers, Sir Drury Curzon Drury-Lowe (1830-1908) and Robert Henry Curzon Drury-Lowe (1831-1907) had particularly distinguished military careers.
William Drury Nathaniel Drury-Lowe was succeeded by his son William Drury Drury-Lowe (1877-1916), who was killed during the First World War. Locko passed to his brother John Alfred Edwin Drury-Lowe (1881-1949). John married Dorothy Casberd-Boteler in 1905 and was succeeded by their son John D. B. Packe Drury-Lowe (1905-1960), and grandson Captain Patrick John Boteler Drury-Lowe (1931-1993).
The descent of the main estates was as follows:
- Thomas Lowe of Macclesfield (d 1415)
- His son Geoffrey Lowe of Macclesfield (d 1451) m Margaret, dau. of Sir Peter Leigh of Lyme
- His son Lawrence Lowe, m (1) the dau. and heir of Mr Rossel of Denby; m (2) Alice, dau. and co-heir of William Mylton of Grattan
- His son Humphrey Lowe of Denby, m Margaret dau. of Thomas Cockayne of Ashbourne
- His son Vincent Lowe of Denby (d c.1558), m Jane dau. of Sir Thomas Cockayne of Ashbourne
- His son Francis Lowe of Denby (d c.1564)
- His brother Jasper Lowe of Park Hall and Denby (d 1585) m his cousin Dorothy dau. of William Sacheverell of Stanton
- His son Patrick Lowe of Denby (d 1616), m Jane dau. of Sir John Harpur of Swarkestone
- His son Vincent Lowe of Denby (1593-1640), m Anne, illegitimate dau. of Henry Cavendish of Tutbury
- His son John Lowe of Denby (1616-1659), m Catherine dau. of Sir Arthur Pilkington, Bt, of Stanley, Yorkshire
- His son John Lowe of Denby (1642-1722)
- His son Vincent Lowe of Denby
- His son John Lowe(1704-1771), purchased Locko
- His brother Richard Lowe of London (1716-1785)
- His cousin William Drury (1753-1827), known as William Drury Lowe from 1790
- His son-in-law Robert Holden (1769-1844) of Darley Abbey and Nuthall Temple
- His son William Drury Holden (1802-1877), known as William Drury Lowe from 1849
- His son William Drury Nathaniel Lowe (1828-1906), known as William Drury Nathaniel Drury-Lowe from 1884
- His son William Drury Drury-Lowe (1877-1916)
- His brother John Alfred Edwin Drury-Lowe (1881-1949)
- His son John Drury Boteler Drury-Lowe (1905-1960), known as John Drury Boteler Packe-Drury-Lowe from 1947
- His son Patrick John Boteler Drury-Lowe (1931-1993)
Genealogical Sources
- Burke's Landed Gentry
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Next page: Drury-Lowe Family Seats