Thomas Rowley's ancestry is veiled in
mystery. Elizabeth Selwyn came
from Cherrington, Gloucestershire, and her parents were
Thomas Selwyn
of the Parish of Minchin Hampton and Mary King, of the
Parish of
Avening, who were married on 31st January, 1766.
Early researchers placed Rowley's
birthplace, or at
least the place
where he spent his childhood, as at a "Burwood Farm", said
to be in
Cornwall.
These, or other, researchers, also
suggested a
connection with one
of the prominent Naval Rowley families of Cornwall. (This
was perhaps
because of confusion of his final Army rank of Captain with
the Naval
rank of Captain.)
Many people over the years have spent
much time and
energy in trying
to locate a Burwood Farm in Cornwall, or verify the
suggested
connection with the prominent Rowley Naval families, both
without
success.
In recent years my research suggests that
he may
have been born at
Kingston-upon-Thames in Surrey.
Thomas Rowley's first consolidated grant,
of 240
acres between
Camperdown, Newtown, Annandale and Petersham, he named
Kingston Farm.
This is where he spent most of his years in New South Wales
before his
death in 1806. His second consolidated grant of 750 acres,
taking in a
major portion of the suburbs of Burwood and Strathfield, he
named
Burwood Farm.
By coincidence there is an old
established property,
Burwood Park,
only a few miles from Kingston-upon-Thames in Surrey. There
appears to
be some connection with a Thomas Rowley, of Bath, and his
nephew Joshua
Rowley, and the sale of a portion of land, adjoining Burwood
Park in
1769 to a Mr. Frederick (whose fatuity held Burwood Park for
several
generations).
Thomas Rowley's first appointment, to the
New South
Wales Corps, was
as Adjutant in 1789. This rank is a Regimental appointment,
rather than
an Army appointment, and was most probably made by the first
Commandment, Major Grose. Thomas Rowley was shown as
"gentleman" on his
appointment, indicating that he had not been in the Armed
Services
before.
Major Grose was born at Petersham, Surrey
and lived
in Croydon,
Surrey, both not far from Kingston-upon-Thames. His grants
in New South
Wales he called Petersham and Croydon. It is quite likely
that Major
Grose and Thomas Rowley were close friends, because they
appear to have
lived fairly close together in Surrey, and because it
appears that
Major Grose secured for him his appointment as Adjutant, an
act which
appears to have been within his power to implement.
This close friendship could account for
his
appointment as Adjutant
at 42 years of age when, I understand, nobody over 39 years
was to be
appointed to the Corps for service in New South Wales.
This Thomas Rowley was christened at
Kingston-upon-Thames on 24th
January, 1747, son of George Rowley and Elizabeth Friend.
George Rowley
and Elizabeth Friend were married at Godalming, Surrey on
27th
December, 1739.
George Rowley was christened at
Kingston-upon-Thames
on 24th July,
1717, son of Anthony Rowley and Mary Dennis. Anthony Rowley
and Mary
Dennis were married at Kingston-upon-Thames on 22nd
December, 1706.
Thomas Rowley's Army Service in the New
South Wales
Corps, formed at
Chatham Barracks and a part of His Majesty's 102nd Regiment
of Foot,
was as follows:
Adjutant to the newly
formed New
South Wales Corps:
5th June 1789 Thomas
Rowley
(Gentleman) and adjutant
5th January 1791
Thomas Rowley
Ensign and adjutant
6th April 1791 Thomas
Rowley
Lieutenant and adjutant
21st June 1796 Thomas
Rowley
Captain
He resigned his
commission as
Captain in the Army, due to ill
health, during 1802.
He became Captain of the Sydney Company
of the Loyal
Association (a
civilian Militia) on 22nd October, 1802. He was given
responsibility
for the management of the civil and military barracks on
24th October,
1802.
He became Captain Commander of the Loyal
Sydney
Association on 22nd
April, 1804, a position he retained until his death from a
consumptive
complaint on Tuesday, 27th May, 1806. He was buried in a
burial plot on
Kingston Farm. Many years later, as this farm was broken up
for
suburban development, his remains were transferred to the
Briggs Family
Vault at Waverley Cemetery, where many of his descendants
are buried.
The first portion of the New South Wales
Corps
arrived in Sydney
Cove on the ship Neptune, a part of the Second Fleet, on
28th June,
1790. (Macarthur was a member of this contingent of the New
South Wales
Corps.)
The balance of the New South Wales Corps
sailed on
the ship Pitt,
Indiaman (Captain Edward Manning), which arrived at Port
Jackson on
Tuesday, 14th February, 1792. On board was Major Grose,
Major
Commandant of the Corps, Lieutenant Governor of the
Settlement, and his
Adjutant Thomas Rowley.
Also on board was a convict, Elizabeth
Selwyn.
Either on the ship,
or soon after arriving in Sydney, Thomas Rowley formed a
lasting de
facto relationship with Elizabeth Selwyn which continued
until his
death in 1806. They had five natural children - Isabella,
born on
Monday, 19th November, 1792; Thomas, born on 12th August,
1794; John,
born on 28th November, 1797; Mary, born on 18th March, 1800;
and Eliza,
born on 25th April, 1804. Baptismal records exist for the
first four
children, in the father's name, Rowley. All five children
are
mentioned, as well as Elizabeth Selwyn, in Thomas Rowley's
Last Will
and Testament.
Thomas Rowley spent some time at the
Convict
Settlement of Norfolk
Island, under; Captain Townsen as Lieutenant Governor. When
Captain
Townsen left the settlement Thomas Rowley became Acting
Commandant,
from November, 1799 until 26th July, 1800, when Major
Foveaux arrived
to take command. Thomas Rowley appears to have impressed the
settlers
and principal inhabitants, who are said to have written a
joint letter
to the Governor expressing their sorrow at his being
relieved. The
Governor is said to have included in Thomas Rowley's
certificate of
service the following words:
I think it right to add that from every
account I
have received from
thence that Captain Rowley's conduct in administering the
Government of
that Island (Norfolk Island) was much to his credit and the
advantage
of Government.
Thomas Rowley acquired a steady stream of
grants of
land over the
years from his first grant on 28th May, 1793 (entered on
13th December,
1792) until these grants and other land purchases were
consolidated
into three grants in 1804 under Governor King.
1. Kingston Farm 240
acres - his
principal residence where he died
in 1806.
2. Burwood Farm 750
acres
3. Banks Town property
700 acres
on the southern shore of Georges
River, adjacent to Holsworthy Army Camp, known as Payne's
Hill.
Thomas Rowley was assigned a convict, in
1792,
called Simeon Lord.
After Simeon Lord's sentence was completed, and he was
emancipated,
Thomas Rowley assisted him to set up in business in 1798 as
a baker and
retailer of spirituous liquors, and aided him in learning to
read and
write. From this humble beginning Simeon Lord prospered to
become one
of the most successful of emancipist businessmen, trading in
seal
skins, whale oil and Pacific Island Trade.
Thomas Rowley stocked his farms with sheep and cattle and
was one of
the first to acquire Spanish Merino sheep, many from Captain
Waterhouse
when he quitted Port Jackson in 1800.
In the August, 1805 returns to the
Governor, Thomas
Rowlev's farms
were stocked thus:
30 acres of wheat, 8 acres of orchard, 1,637 acres of
pasture, 300
acres of fallow, 1.975 acres all told. 3 horses, 51 cattle,
519 sheep,
21 goats, 32 hogs, 5 children not victualled, 3 convicts
victualled
(magistrate), 8 convicts not victualled.
The Children
Isabella Rowley married Lieutenant William Ellison, R.N, on 3rd May, 1807, and died, without issue, on 25th October, 1808.
Thomas Rowley married Catherine Clarkson on 27th February, 1818 and they had eleven children.
John Rowley married Sarah Pear on 4th November, 1819 and they had ten children.
Mary Rowley married John Lucas on 10th March, 1817 and they had ten children.
Eliza Rowley married Henry Sparrow Briggs on 28th August, 1826 and they had ten children.