He was born on 27 July in 1922 Rajputana, British India, the son of RQMS Rowley, Worcestershire Regiment.

[2] Rowley "developed notable leadership qualities", fighting in Burma and southeast Asia, and was "just the sort of man the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), or MI6, was looking for", according to his obituary in The Times.

[3] Rowley was an MI6 Controller, and the first head of the Northern Ireland Assessment Staff, a joint MI5/MI6 operation, based on the top floor of Stormont Castle, until he was succeeded in 1974 by MI5's Denis Payne.

[6] He met his future wife, the "vivacious" Anne Cresswell, an SIS secretary, at a roof party in Cairo in 1945.

[citation needed] His daughter Sarah married the art dealer Johnny Van Haeften.