Captain Thomas Rowley ( – 27 May 1806) was a soldier and landholder in the

convict settlement A penal colony or exile colony is a Human settlement, settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colony, colonial territory. Although the ter ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia.

Biography

He was appointed adjutant of the

New South Wales Corps The New South Wales Corps (sometimes called The Rum Corps) was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment of the British Army to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps, who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia, in fortifying the ...

in 1789 and promoted to lieutenant in 1791. Rowley arrived at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

in 1792, he had the convict

Simeon Lord Simeon Lord ( – 29 January 1840) was a pioneer merchant and a magistrate in Australia. He became a prominent trader in Sydney, buying and selling ship cargoes. Despite being an emancipist Lord was made a magistrate by Governor Lachlan Macq ...

assigned as servant. He was promoted to captain in 1796 and in 1799 he commenced a tour of duty on

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

. When Captain John Townson departed prematurely in November, Rowley, as the senior officer, took charge of the settlement. During his rule he ordered liquor stills to be demolished to reduce the drunkenness on the island, and this move brought threats of prosecution from the owners. He was relieved by Major

Joseph Foveaux Joseph Foveaux (1767 – 20 March 1846) was a soldier and convict settlement administrator in colonial New South Wales, Australia. Early life Foveaux was baptised on 6 April 1767 at Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England, the sixth child of Joseph Fove ...

in July 1800 and returned to Sydney. He claimed that his rule was sufficiently creditable to earn the respect of the settlers and Governor

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. In 1802 he resigned his commission and became a farmer. He had received his first land grant in 1793, and accumulated land at a steady rate at

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, hav ...

, Petersham and Burwood. By 1805 he owned 519 sheep, but made no effort to breed from them. He was interested only in meat production, not wool growing. In 1802 Rowley was given responsibility for the management of the civil and military barracks and became captain of the Sydney company of the Loyal Association, of which he became commandant in 1804. In the same month he became a magistrate. He died of

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

on 27 May 1806, leaving his property to his children and to his partner Elizabeth Selwyn, a former convict who had arrived on the ''Pitt'' in 1792.

Family

He had five children, four with Elizabeth Selwyn. His eldest daughter died in 1808 aged 17.

References

* ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Vol. 2. * Hazzard, Margaret, ''Punishment Short of Death: a history of the penal settlement at Norfolk Island'', Melbourne, Hyland, 1984. * ''A Cameo of Thomas Rowley'', Self-published Ian Ramage, 200 pps extracts can be found a

External links

Thomas Rowley research and genealogy site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowley, Thomas 1748 births 1806 deaths 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Norfolk Island penal colony administrators Tuberculosis deaths in Australia Infectious disease deaths in New South Wales