Charles Thomas Rowcroft
Thomas Edward Rowcroft was the first British diplomatic representative in Peru. He arrived in Lima as Consul General in 1824, accompanied by his daughter, Leonora Maria. His son and writer Charles Thomas Rowcroft was in Tasmania Australia which he left in the Cumberland in September 1825. At this time Lima was temporarily in the power of the royalists. Conditions in the city were awful.
However, shortly after Rowcroft's arrival Simón Bolívar returned to Lima from the interior and the Spanish retreated to Castle of Real Felipe. Rowcroft decided to visit a friend in Callao and arranged for a safe pass through the royalist lines. On the return from his visit he handed in his safe pass but, as his coach left the outpost, it was struck by a hail of bullets. Rowcroft was wounded in the hand and the torso and died on 7 Dec 1824 at the home of a British merchant. Leonora was taken on board the HMS Cambridge. The Consul was buried on Saturday morning 11 December 1824 on San Lorenzo Island. Captain (later Admiral Thomas Maling was the chief mourner.
It is not known for sure whether it was the "royalists" or the "patriots" who were responsible but it is said that the royalist officer who gave him the safe pass had, unknown to Rowcroft, written a death sentence on it. His daughter returned to England and married Alfred Samuel Robinson, a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, on 4 December 1827.
At Markham College, the only house not named after a military figure is Rowcroft.
References
- J. C. Horner, Cecil Hadgraft (1967), Rowcroft, Charles (1798–1856), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 2, Melbourne University Press, 1967, p. 402
- The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Thursday 1 September 1825, p. 3
- The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 95, Part 1, p. 645
- The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History ..., Volume 46; Volume 69 http://books.google.com.au/books?id=faM-AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA217&dq=leonora+maria+rowcroft&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IJu4U7q9LYemkwXjoIGgDQ&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=leonora%20maria%20rowcroft&f=false