William Rowan


Sir William Rowan

Sir William Rowan
Born18 June 1789
Isle of Man
Died26 September 1879 (aged 90)
Bath, Somerset
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service / branch British Army
RankField Marshal
CommandsBritish troops in Canada
Battles / warsNapoleonic Wars
AwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Field Marshal Sir William Shearman Rowan, GCB (18 June 1789 – 26 September 1879) was a British Army officer. He served in the Peninsular War and then the Hundred Days, fighting at the Battle of Waterloo and taking part in an important charge led by Sir John Colborne against the Imperial Guard when he was wounded. He later assisted Colborne in Colborne's new role as Acting Governor General of British North America during the rebellions by the Patriote movement in 1837. Rowan returned to Canada as Commander-in-Chief, North America in which role he made an important conciliatory speech in response to the burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal by an angry mob in April 1849.