Sir Josias Rowley, Bt | |
---|---|
Born | 1765 |
Died | 10 January 1842 |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | Royal Navy |
Rank | Admiral |
Commands held | HMS Lark HMS Braave HMS Impérieuse HMS Raisonnable HMS Boadicea HMS America Cape of Good Hope Station 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 Knight of the Military Order of Maria Theresa[1] |
Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet, 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.
Rowley was born in 1765 the second son of Clotworthy Rowley and Letitia (née Campbell), of Mountcampbell, Drumsna, County Leitrim, in the West of Ireland. His father was a Barrister and MP for Downpatrick in the Irish Parliament. His paternal grandfather was Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Rowley, KCB. He had at least one brother William, MP for Kinsale and Recorder of Kinsale.[2]
He died on 10 January 1842, about age 76, in the Mount Campbell family estate at Drumsna in County Leitrim. He was buried and commemorated at the nearby Annaduff Parish Church. He was unmarried, without heir to his titles. He was survived by his younger brothers Vice Admiral Samuel Rowley (also commemorated within Annaduff Parish Church) and The Reverend John Rowley, incumbent rector at Virginia in County Cavan. The eldest brother William, Recorder of Kinsale, had died in 1812.
The 1809-1810 campaign was used by author Patrick O'Brian as the setting for the fourth in the series of Aubrey–Maturin series books, The Mauritius Command. The fictional Captain Jack Aubrey takes the place of Rowley in the novel.