His father is said to have been a cowherd,[1] his mother was the sister of a monk at Abingdon Abbey; possibly Thomas Rowland, the last abbot.

[3] Whatever his family connection to the boy, Rowland played an important role in his education, sending him to the abbey school, followed by All Souls College, Oxford, where he became a Fellow in 1521, got his B.A.

At Oxford he attracted the attention of Sir Thomas More, who prevailed upon Henry VIII to appoint him King's scholar in Paris, with an annual allowance of £3 6s 8d, which was doubled in 1531.

[1] His income was further boosted by the addition of the first of many ecclesiastical benefices: the rectory of Kingston Bagpuize in Berkshire.

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