tutor, especially in philosophy, that he made his mark. He was the first to desert the traditional textbooks, introducing his pupils, about 1680, to what was known as ‘free philosophy.’ Rowe was a Cartesian at a time when the Aristotelian philosophy was dominant in the older schools of learning; but while in physics he adhered to Descartes against the rising influence of Newton, in mental science he became one of the earliest exponents of Locke. The imperfect list of his students (none from the presbyterian fund) includes an unusual number of distinguished names; John Evans, D.D. [q. v.], Henry Grove [q. v.], Josiah Hort [q. v.], archbishop of Tuam, John Hughes (1677–1720) [q. v.], the poet, Jeremiah Hunt, D.D. [q. v.], Daniel Neal [q. v.], and Isaac Watts, who has celebrated in an ode his ‘gentle influence,’ which
bids our thoughts like rivers flow
And choose the channels where they run.
Rowe was a Calvinist in theology, but few of his pupils adhered to this system without some modification. In 1699 he became one of the Tuesday lecturers at Pinners' Hall. He died suddenly on 18 Aug. 1705, and was buried with his father in Bunhill Fields.
Benoni Rowe (1658–1706), the younger brother, was born in London, and educated for the ministry. His first known settlement was at Epsom, Surrey, about 1689. He succeeded Stephen Lobb [q. v.] in 1699 as pastor of the independent church in Fetter Lane, and was a solid but not a popular preacher. He died on 30 March 1706, and was buried with his father in Bunhill Fields. He left two sons—Thomas (1687–1715), husband of Elizabeth Rowe [q. v.], and Theophilus.
[Wilson's Dissenting Churches of London, 1808 ii. 253, 1810 iii. 168 sq., 449 sq.; Jones's Bunhill Memorials, 1849, p. 245; Waddington's Surrey Congregational History, 1866, p. 202.]
ROWELL, GEORGE AUGUSTUS (1804–1892), meteorologist, born at Oxford on 16 May 1804, was son of George Rowell of Newcastle-on-Tyne, who moved to Oxford in 1791, and died there on 14 Feb. 1834. Before his tenth birthday Rowell was taken from school to assist his grandfather in his trade as a cabinet-maker; this trade Rowell himself followed for some years, but subsequently relinquished it for that of a paper-hanger. From his father Rowell inherited a passion for meteorology, and during the appearance of the comet of 1811 nightly lessons on the comet and on the apparent motion of the circumpolar stars were given by father to son. From his mother he received his first lessons on the cause of eclipses and on other astronomical subjects. The thunderstorm and the aurora specially attracted him; these he studied by observation only, as books were difficult of access, although he borrowed and read with eagerness Lovett's ‘Philosophical Essays.’ In 1839 Rowell, taking advantage of an offer made in a lecture by Professor Baden Powell [q. v.] to give advice on scientific subjects to any one who would apply to him, laid before the professor a theory he had worked out as to the cause of rain. In accordance with Powell's suggestion, he wrote out his view, but the paper, when sent to the ‘London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine,’ was not accepted for publication. It was, however, read before the Ashmolean Society, and was published in the ‘Proceedings’ for 1839. In the following year a similar paper was read by Rowell before the British Association at Glasgow, and published in their reports. From this date Rowell published many papers and letters on meteorological subjects, and in 1859 he issued by subscription his ‘Essay on the Cause of Rain,’ which was well received. Rowell was appointed assistant in the Ashmolean Museum, and on the opening of the Oxford University Museum in 1860 he was elected to a similar position in that institution. Of a sensitive disposition, he in middle life abandoned his studies and burned his manuscripts, from an unfounded belief that his social position hindered his scientific progress. But when Professor Loomis put forward a theory respecting the aurora which he considered identical with that published by himself in 1839, he issued several pamphlets drawing attention to his past work, and arguing that it was the duty of the university and of Oxford scientific men publicly to recognise his contention. In 1879 he unwisely refused an annuity voted to him by the university in consideration of his services and of his attainments in science. He interested himself in the affairs of his native city, and was regarded as an authority on all questions relating to water-supply and drainage. He died at Oxford on 24 Jan. 1892.
Besides the books above mentioned, he wrote:
- ‘An Essay on the Beneficent Distribution of the Sense of Pain,’ 1857; 2nd ed. 1862.
- ‘On the Storm in Wiltshire of 30 Dec. 1859,’ 1860.
- ‘On the Effects of Elevation and Floods on Health; and the General Health of Oxford compared with that of other Districts,’ 1866.
- ‘On the Storm in the Isle of Wight, 28 Sept. 1876,’ 1876.
