Charles Rowan
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Charles Rowan KCB (circa 1782 – 8 May 1852) was an officer in the British Army, serving in the Peninsular War and Waterloo and the joint first Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London Metropolitan Police.
Sir Charles Rowan
Robert Peel
The Viscount Melbourne
Baron Duncannon
The Duke of Wellington
Henry Goulburn
Lord John Russell
The Marquess of Normanby
Sir James Graham and others
Richard Mayne
and William Hay
c.1782
County Antrim
8 May 1852
London, United Kingdom
Kensal Green Cemetery, London, United Kingdom
Family[edit]
Rowan was the fifth of the ten sons of Robert Rowan, an impoverished landowner of Scottish descent.[1] His eldest brother was Lieutenant-Colonel John Rowan, whilst other brothers were Field Marshal Sir William Rowan (1789–1879), Britain's Commander-in-Chief, North America (1849), and Major James Rowan (born 1781), who was appointed Chief Police Magistrate for the Town and Territory of Gibraltar in 1830.[1]
Life[edit]
Early life[edit]
Born in County Antrim, Charles went to school in Carrickfergus. In 1797, he was commissioned an ensign in the 52nd Regiment of Foot, in which his elder brother Robert (1780–1863) was also a captain, as recorded on the latter's tomb monument at St Nicholas Church in Carrickfergus.[2] He was promoted Paymaster in 1798, lieutenant in 1799,[3] captain in 1803,[4] brevet major in 1809, major in 1811,[5] Brevet lieutenant-colonel in 1812,[6] and finally lieutenant-colonel – all his promotions above captain were field promotions, not purchases.