Born in 1851 in the English town of Cottenham (Cambridgeshire), James Rowell was an experienced military officer. He joined the Reedbeds Mounted Company in 1877 and by 1895 had risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the colonial militia. In 1897, he commanded the South Australian Contingent to Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee celebrations in London. Between May 1900 and August 1901, he commanded the 4th Imperial Bushmen’s Contingent in the Second Boer War: for his service in South Africa, Rowell was mentioned in despatches, appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath, awarded the Queen’s Medal, and promoted to full colonel. On his return, Rowell commanded both the South Australian Mounted Brigade (from 1901) and the 10th Australian Infantry Regiment (from 1904) until his retirement from active service in 1910.

Restored from the retired list following the outbreak of the First World War, Rowell briefly served as Military Commandant of South Australia in 1916, before making several voyages on transport ships between Australia, England and Egypt as commander of the Australian Imperial Force reinforcements.

Long active in local government in South Australia, Rowell served for twelve years as the chairman of the West Torrens District Council, and was a vice president of the Local Government Association and a member of the Central Board of Health.

In 1910 Rowell stood (unsuccessfully) for election to the state seat of Adelaide in the House of Assembly. Appointed in May 1917 to a short term casual vacancy in the Senate, he was elected in his own right in the 1917 general election. Defeated at the 1922 election, Rowell’s focus while in parliament was on primary industry, the Murray River Scheme, and support for returned servicemen and their families, including those who had fought in the Boer War and received no assistance on their return.

In addition to his life of political and military service, Rowell was a highly skilled horticulturalist. He was a member of the South Australian Board of Agriculture and a councillor (and for a time, President) of the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society of South Australia.

Sources:

• The Australian Dictionary of Biography
• The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate (online edition)
• The Parliamentary Handbook, Parliament of Australia
• Nathan Church, Hannah Gobbett, Martin Lumb and Rob Lundie, Commonwealth Members of Parliament who have served in war: Colonial wars and the First World War, Parliamentary Library Research Paper, September 2014
• ‘Death of Col. James Rowell’ The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA: 1931–1954) 8 Jul 1940: 12. Web. 31 Mar 2015

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