Born in Frenchwood House,
Lancashire, to a
recusant English Roman Catholic family able to trace an uninterrupted pedigree back to
Conishead Priory in 1325, Gillow was the son of a
magistrate, Joseph Gillow (1801–1872), and his wife, Jane Haydock (1805–1872), a descendant of
Christopher Haydock, a Lancashire politician and a member of another prominent recusant English Roman Catholic family, the Haydocks of
Cottam. Joseph Gillow was educated at
Sedgley Park School, Wolverhampton (1862–1863) and
St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw (1864–1866), where his brothers and uncles had studied for the priesthood. At Ushaw, Gillow developed an abiding interest in Lancashire Catholicism, resulting in the publication of
The Tyldesley Diary in 1873. In marrying into the McKennas, Gillow secured himself a private income which allowed him to pursue his antiquarian interests.
Cardinal Gasquet described the dictionary as a ‘veritable storehouse of information’, however, until 1986, no index was available. Gillow was appointed honorary recorder of the
Catholic Record Society at its foundation in 1904, and was a frequent contributor. ==Works==