Sir William Carpenter Rowe (bapt. 28 July 1801 – 9 November 1859) was an English jurist and the tenth Chief Justice of Ceylon.

Early Days

He was born in

Launceston, Cornwall Launceston ( or , locally or , kw, Lannstevan; rarely spelled Lanson as a local abbreviation) is a town, ancient borough, and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is west of the middle stage of the River Tamar, which c ...

, the eldest son of Dr. Coryndon Rowe, and Ann. He was educated at Winchester College and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

Career

He was knighted in January 1856 The following February he was appointed Chief Justice of Ceylon to succeed William Ogle Carr. He held the post until 1859 when he was succeeded in turn by Edward Shepherd Creasy. While resident in Ceylon he was elected the fourth President of the

Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (RASSL) is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is one of the oldest learned societies in Sri Lanka with a history of over 160 years. It was established on 7 February 1845, paralleling the Royal Asiatic Society ...

, serving from 1859 to his death.

Personal life

He was married to Frances Elizabeth Storey and lived whilst in Ceylon at The Lodge, Kandy, where they had one child. He died after a short illness on 9 November 1859 at

Point de Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern ...

, Ceylon. He was buried at All Saints Church, Galle Fort, Ceylon, aged 58.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, William Carpenter 1801 births 1859 deaths Chief Justices of British Ceylon 19th-century Sri Lankan people British expatriates in Sri Lanka 19th-century British people Knights Bachelor People from Launceston, Cornwall People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford