Robert Selby Lowndes was the son of the first William Selby Lowndes of Winslow and Whaddon and his wife Mary Goostrey. The original Selby Lowndes family had travelled frequently from one residence to another between Whaddon and Winslow. We have an eyewitness account from Kate Shillingford who lived at Little Horwood of the passing through the village of the squire between the two.
Kate writes:
What a fine old gentleman he looked sitting bolt upright in his yellow wheeled dog cart, with his groom sitting by his side ! He never went through the village without throwing a halfcrown or two shilling piece to any child he saw outside or near the shop of Thomas Shillingford . This was spent in the shop on sweets and biscuits for the children of the parish. I know this to be true as I am the granddaughter of the shopkeeper. The news soon travelled that the squire had been… When afternoon school was over we children couldn’t run through the churchyard fast enough to my granny’s house, where we lined up the whole length of the yard, shop and house, and my granny, mother and aunt would dole out to each child equally the sweets and biscuits. Two shillings bought a good many in those days.
Robert Selby Lowndes from the Winslow/Whaddon line of Lowndes was appointed vicar of Astwood and Rector of North Crawley on the death of Thomas Lowndes a batchelor and the beneficiary of the enclosure of North Crawley in 1773 and who lived on until 1797 and was the last Rector descended from William of Astwoodbury.
All future rectors of North Crawley were appointed from the Winslow/Whaddon line.
Robert actually lived in North Crawley when the new rectory was built in the high street with some materials from the old derelict rectory in Broadmead in 1800. As the first occupant of the newly built rectory, he occupied it until his death registered in Newport Pagnell in July 1837.
On his death his brother Thomas Selby Lowndes who was born in 1776 was appointed Rector of North Crawley in 1837.