Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet, GCB, GCMG (1765 – 10 January 1842) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

[2] 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.

[5] In 1809, as commodore of a small squadron off Mauritius, working with the commander of the East India Company troops at Rodrigues, he successfully raided the island of Réunion.

[3] In March 1810 he moved into HMS Boadicea (38 guns) and transported a larger landing party to Réunion and captured the island.

[3] Meanwhile, a force led by Captain Samuel Pym RN was being out-flanked by French frigates attacking Grand Port, Mauritius.