Ballygowan period, and subsequent to the introduction of the Belfast & County Down Railway in 1850, that the village began to grow. Ballygowan railway station opened on 10 September 1858, but finally closed on 16 January 1950. After the railway closed in 1950 the village became an attractive "dormitory" town and the ensuing 50 years have seen rapid growth. On Monday, 15 September 2014, the remains of The Baron Bannside (better known as The Rev. Ian Paisley) were buried in the graveyard attached to Ballygowan Free Presbyterian Church. Lord Bannside was a former First Minister of Northern Ireland and a former
Horace Pitt-Rivers, 6th Baron Rivers no children from his second marriage. He died on 3 March 1880 at imposing 23 Wilton Crescent, London and was buried at Steepleton Iwerne. The peerage became extinct upon his death. His estates were inherited by a second cousin, Augustus Lane-Fox, who adopted the surname of Pitt Rivers/Pitt-Rivers in consequence. In 1881 his widow married Montague George Thorold (d. 1920), second son of Sir John Thorold, 11th Baronet, and died on 1 October 1918. Horace Pitt-Rivers, 6th Baron Rivers Horace Pitt-Rivers, 6th Baron Rivers (12 April 1814 – 3 March 1880), known as Horace Beckford until 1828 and Hon. Horace