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
Luke White, 6th Baron Annaly go hunting. People have come from all over the country and all sections of society. It's no longer a privileged exclusive activity." He refuses to be drawn into debate around suffering of hunted animals. From 2007-2011 Annaly was the Councillor for a single-member ward of Cherwell District Council as a Conservative ousting an incumbent Liberal Democrat. Annaly acts in his local (Anglican, ecclesiastical) Parochial Church Council as Church Warden and as representative on the Deanery Synod. Luke White, 6th Baron Annaly Luke Richard White, 6th Baron Annaly is a former British Army officer and Conservative politician (1990-1999) who sat by