Charles Rowcroft

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Charles Rowcroft (1798–23 August 1856) was a British farmer and writer known for his Australian-themed novels. He was the son of diplomat Thomas Edward Rowcroft. Born in London, he went to Eton and moved to Hobart Town, Australia, in 1821, taking a 2,000-acre grant near Bothwell with his brother Horace. They were among the first European settlers there. In 1822 he became a justice of the peace, helped run the Agricultural Society of Van Diemen’s Land, and was an original shareholder of the Van Diemen’s Land Bank. He unsuccessfully sought the role of colonial secretary in 1823. In 1824 he was sued for criminal conversation by Edward Lord and had to pay £100 in damages. He returned to England in 1826 and bought a boarding school in Streatham, London, in 1827.

Rowcroft wrote Tales of the Colonies (1843), often seen as the first Australian immigrant novel, followed by The Bushranger of Van Diemen’s Land (1846). Another work, An Emigrant in Search of a Colony (1851), is also tied to Australia. In 1852 he became the first British consul to Cincinnati. He left New York to return to England on 17 August 1856 but died at sea on 23 August. He was married with five children.