Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet

Sir Josias Rowley
Admiral Sir Josias Rowley
Born	1765
Died	10 January 1842
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	HMS Lark HMS Braave HMS Impérieuse HMS Raisonnable HMS Boadicea HMS America Cork Station Mediterranean Fleet
Battles/wars	Napoleonic Wars
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George

Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Bt., GCB, GCMG (1765 – 10 January 1842), known as "The Sweeper of the Seas", was an Anglo-Irish naval officer who commanded the campaign that captured the French Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mauritius in 1810.

Naval career

Rowley was born the second son of Clotworthy Rowley, Barrister and MP for Downpatrick in the Irish Parliament, and Letitia (née Campbell), of Mountcampbell, Drumsna, County Leitrim, in the West of Ireland. Josias' grandfather was Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Rowley, KCB.^[1]

He joined the Royal Navy in 1778 in HMS Suffolk in the West Indies.^[2] Promoted to post captain in 1795, he commanded HMS Braave (40 guns) at the Cape of Good Hope and then HMS Impérieuse (38 guns) in the East Indies.^[2] He also commanded HMS Raisonnable (64 guns) and took part in the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805.^[2]

In 1798 he became the Member of the Irish House of Commons for Downpatrick.^[2]

In 1809, as commodore of a small squadron off Mauritius, working with the commander of the East India Company troops at Rodrigues, he successfully raided the island of Réunion.^[2]

In March 1810 he moved into HMS Boadicea (38 guns) and transported a larger landing party which arrived on Réunion and captured the island.^[2] Meanwhile a force led Captain Samuel Pym RN was being out-flanked by French frigates attacking Grand Port, Mauritius.^[2] HMS Africaine was captured by the French frigates Iphigénie and Astrée in the engagement.^[2] Rowley then re-captured Africaine the same day.^[2] Vice-Admiral Albemarle Bertie arrived on 29 November and took the surrender of Mauritius on 3 December 1810.^[2] This campaign was used by author Patrick O'Brian as the setting for one of his Aubrey–Maturin series books, The Mauritius Command. His hero, Jack Aubrey, takes the place of Rowley in the novel.

He was then given command of HMS America (74 guns) in the Mediterranean. He was created a baronet in December 1813, promoted rear-admiral in 1814 and appointed KCB in 1815.^[2]

In the summer of 1815 with his flagship Impregnable (98 guns), under Lord Exmouth) he sailed once more to the Mediterranean.^[2] In 1818 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief on the Cork Station and in 1821 he became MP for Kinsale, County Cork.^[2] Promoted to vice-admiral in 1825, he was made Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in 1833.^[2]

He died unmarried and without heir to his titles in the Mount Campbell family estate at Drumsna in County Leitrim and was buried and commemorated at the nearby Annaduff Parish Church. He was survived by his younger brothers Vice Admiral Samuel Rowley (also commemorated within Annaduff Parish Church) and The Rev. John Rowley, incumbent rector at Virginia in County Cavan.

References

• Josias Rowley's service record and Last Will and Testament are held in the British National Archives
• Leigh Rayment's list of baronets
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Josias Rowley