Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet

Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet, (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. Birth and family 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. Naval career He joined the Royal Navy in 1778, age 13, on HMS Suffolk in the West Indies, under the command of his uncle, Sir Joshua Rowley. Promoted to post captain in 1795, age 30, he commanded HMS Braave (40 guns) at the Cape of Good Hope and then (38 guns) in the East Indies. He also commanded (64 guns) and took part in the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805. In 1798 he became the Member of the Irish House of Commons for Downpatrick.