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 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 virtue of his qualifying British hereditary peerage in the House of Lords. His father is Luke Robert White, 5th Baron Annaly and his mother Lady Marye Isabel Pepys. They divorced in 1956 when White was two years old and she died in 1958. He was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned to the rank of Lieutenant in 1974 in the service of the Royal Hussars. He also attended the