Admiral Sir Bartholomew Samuel Rowley (10 June 1764 – 7 October 1811) was a British naval officer who served during the American,

French Revolutionary The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...

and

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Biography

He was second son of Vice-Admiral Sir Joshua Rowley, and was a member of a notable naval dynasty; his grandfather was Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Rowley, while his younger brother was Admiral Sir Charles Rowley, and his cousins included Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, Rear-Admiral

Samuel Campbell Rowley Samuel Campbell Rowley was a politician and Royal Navy officer who was born in Ireland in 1774. Rowley attended the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth in 1785 and joined his first ship in March 1789, serving in the West Indies. He passed the li ...

, Vice-Admiral Sir Joshua Ricketts Rowley, and Admiral of the Fleet

Sir George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beat ...

. His sister Philadelphia Rowley was married to Admiral Sir Charles Cotton. Rowley attended

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

from 1775, and then entered in the Navy. By 1780 was serving as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

aboard his father's

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the f ...

, the

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

. On 31 January 1781 he was made post (before his 17th birthday!) in order to command the 28-gun

sixth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works and ...

frigate . On 20 April 1781 ''Resource'' captured the 20-gun French frigate ''Licorne'' in an action lasting 1½ hours. She proved to be the former , which had been captured on 4 September 1780 by a French frigate and two ships of the line off Tortuga. In October 1782 Rowley took command of the

fifth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal ...

32-gun frigate , where he served until August 1783. However, with the end of the American Revolutionary War in September 1783, Rowley found himself, like many other naval officers, unemployed on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the En ...

for nearly a decade. By the time of the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War in February 1793 Rowley was back at sea in command of the 32-gun frigate , serving in the

Jamaica Squadron Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispanio ...

, under the command of Commodore John Ford. On 16 April 1793 ''Penelope'' captured the French

aviso An ''aviso'' was originally a kind of dispatch boat or "advice boat", carrying orders before the development of effective remote communication. The term, derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word for "advice", "notice" or "warning", an ' ...

''Le Goéland'', commanded by '' lieutenant de vaisseau'' Leissègues de Pennenyum, en route from Cap-Français to

Jérémie Jérémie ( ht, Jeremi) is a commune and capital city of the Grand'Anse department in Haiti. It had a population of about 31,000 at the 2003 census. It is relatively isolated from the rest of the country. The Grande-Anse River flows near th ...

. In late 1793 Ford took advantage of the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt began on 22 ...

to occupy several ports in the French colony of

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to ref ...

(now

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

). On 20 November 1793 ''Penelope'' sailed from

Môle-Saint-Nicolas Môle-Saint-Nicolas (; ht, Mòlsennikola or ) is a commune in the north-western coast of Haiti. It is the chief town of the Môle-Saint-Nicolas Arrondissement in the department of Nord-Ouest. History Christopher Columbus' first voyage to ...

, having received news that the French 36-gun frigate ''L'Inconstante'' was sailing from

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is defin ...

, escorting a large merchant ship. The next day ''Penelope'' met the 32-gun frigate and the two ships proceeded towards Port-au-Prince. However they learned that ''L'Inconstante'' had sailed to Petit Trou with two mail ships, but was soon expected to return to port. They intended to cut her out of the harbour of Port-au-Prince, but on the night of 25 November met her at sea, and after a brisk exchange of broadsides, ''L'Inconstante'' surrendered. The ''Penelope'' had only one man killed and seven wounded, while the ''L'Inconstante'' had nine killed, including the Captain and the First Lieutenant, and 17 wounded. On 2 January 1794 Ford sent ''Penelope'' into Port-au-Prince under a

flag of truce White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale. Contemporary use The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire, and for negotiation. It is also used to symbol ...

where Rowley demanded the surrender of the island from the French Civil Commissioner

Léger-Félicité Sonthonax Léger-Félicité Sonthonax (7 March 1763 – 23 July 1813) was a French abolitionist and Jacobin before joining the Girondist party, which emerged in 1791. During the French Revolution, he controlled 7,000 French troops in Saint-Domingue during p ...

. He refused, and the British promptly blockaded the island. After the capture of Port-au-Prince on 4 June 1794, Rowley and Lieutenant-Colonel

John Whitelocke John Whitelocke (1757 – 23 October 1833) was a British Army officer. Military career Educated at Marlborough Grammar School and at Lewis Lochée's military academy in Chelsea, Whitelocke entered the army in 1778 and served in Jamaica and in S ...

were sent back to England with dispatches aboard the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

. In August 1794 Rowley was appointed captain of the 74-gun , taking part in the

Battle of Hyères Islands A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

on 13 July 1795, off the southern coast of France, when a British fleet under Admiral William Hotham engaged a French fleet. ''Cumberland'' was in the

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across t ...

of the British fleet, accepting the surrender of the French 74 , before Hotham ordered the fleet to disengage. From July 1797 until October 1798 Rowley commanded the 74-gun , capturing the French

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...

''L'Arrogant''. Rowley was promoted to Rear-Admiral on 14 February 1799, and to Vice-Admiral on 9 November 1805. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief at The Downs in 1807 and Commander-in-Chief at the

Jamaica Station Jamaica station is a major train station of the Long Island Rail Road located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. With weekday ridership exceeding 200,000 passengers, it is the largest transit hub on Long Island, the fourth-busiest rail stati ...

in 1808, and sailed from England in July 1808 aboard , commanded by Captain William Pryce Cumby. As C-in-C Rowley resided ashore, flying his flag in . He was promoted to

Admiral of the Blue The Admiral of the Blue was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Admiral of the White (see order of precedence below). From 1688 to 1805 this rank was in order of precedence third; after 1805 ...

on 31 July 1810, and died at Jamaica on 7 October 1811.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowley, Bartholomew Samuel 1764 births 1811 deaths People educated at Harrow School People of the Haitian Revolution Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars British naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Navy admirals Younger sons of baronets