The very good and rare to ship East Africa Witu Expedition 1890 Gunboat Pigeon Naval Brigade and Great War Northern Patrol and Scapa Flow Assistant Paymaster-in-Chief’s group awarded to Paymaster Captain E.F. Rowe, Royal Navy. From Gillingham, Kent, and later Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, he saw over 39 years service rising from Assistant Clerk in January 1884 through to the Paymaster Captain and Assistant Paymaster-in-Chief at Scapa Flow during 1918 to 1919. Rowe was one only 12 men from the gun boat Pigeon to see service ashore in German East Africa with the Naval Brigade during the Witu Expedition which lasted from 17th to 27th October 1890 when operating against the Sultan Fumo Bakari of Witu who had countenanced the murder of several Germans. At the onset of the Russo-Japanese War he was aboard the cruiser Talbot when she was present at Chemulpo Bay on 9 February 1904, and playing witness to the historical naval battle between two Russian ships, the cruiser Varyag and the gunboat Korietz against a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy. He was further aboard the battleship Dominion in 1912 during the First Balkan War as part of an international blockade of Montenegro. With the Great War he was still aboard Dominion and as such saw service with the Northern Patrol until May 1916, after which he was with the submarine depot ship Crescent at Scapa Flow, he being the Assistant Paymaster-in-Chief from January 1918 through to June 1919. Rowe’s Royal Navy Certificates of Appointment, numbering 71 in all, are still retained with the group, these attractively bound together. In such a complete form, they represent a remarkable survival.
Group of 4: East and West Africa 1887-1900, 1 Clasp: Witu 1890; (E.F. ROWE, ASST: PAYMR: R.N., H.M.S. PIGEON.); 1914-1915 Star; (FT. PAYR. E.F. ROWE. R.N.); British War Medal and Victory Medal; (PAYR. CAPT E.F. ROWE.R.N.), mounted swing style as worn.
Condition: Good Very Fine or better.
The Royal Navy Certificates of Appointment issued to ‘Edmund F. Rowe R.N.’ these bound together with gilt annotated leather covers by Clarke and Son of Devonport. 71 certificates in all, and therefore remarkable to still be together as one.
Edmund Francis Rowe was born on 4 March 1867 in Gillingham, Kent, his father, William Army Samuel Rowe being a Sergeant in the Royal Marines, his mother being being Mabel Winifred Adeline Rowe. He originally entered the Royal Navy as an Assistant Clerk with Duke of Wellington on 15 January 1884, and he was then appointed as a Clerk aboard the frigate Agincourt from 11 January 1885, which he was aboard when he was appointed to Assistant Paymaster on 4 March 1888.
Rowe joined the corvette Boadicea from 24 April 1888, and then joined the sloop Reindeer on 2 January 1889 as her Acting Paymaster, being appointed as an Assistant Paymaster aboard her from 11 April 1889. Rowe was appointed back to Boadicea as an Assistant Paymaster from 15 April 1889, and was then appointed the Assistant Paymaster-in-Charge with the gun boat Pigeon from 2 October 1890, being then employed with the her out on the East Indies Station and off the east coast of Africa. As such he was aboard Pigeon when she saw service on and off the coast of East Africa during the Witu Expedition which lasted from 17th to 27th October 1890. This expedition was led by Vice Admiral Sir Edmund Fremantle against the Sultan Fumo Bakari of Witu who had countenanced the murder of several Germans. This area of present day Kenya, formerly under the control of the German East Africa Company, was transferred to the British under the Anglo-German Agreement in 1890. Rowe is further confirmed as one of only 12 men from Pigeon to see service ashore with the naval brigade, and as such he received the East and West Africa Medal 1887-1900 with clasp for Witu 1890, one of only 12 awarded to the crew of Pigeon.
Rowe was then appointed the Assistant Paymaster-in-Charge to the base ship Wildfire from 22 March 1892, and after passing through Pembroke was appointed to the gunboat Rattler from 1 February 1894, before joining Victory at Portsmouth from 1 April 1897, and the cruiser Thetis as Acting Paymaster from 13 June 1897, before being back with Pembroke from 30 July 1897, and with Vivid I at Devonport from 6 August 1897. Rowe was next afloat aboard the cruiser Bellona and was appointed as Paymaster aboard her on 14 November 1899, and was then advanced to Staff Paymaster with the cruiser Talbot from 10 April 1901, and then departed with her for the China Station, when she arrived at Hong Kong in December 1901. She visited Kobe in Japan in June 1902, and Rowe was still aboard her when she was present at Chemulpo Bay on 9 February 1904, during the historical naval battle between two Russian ships, the cruiser Varyag and the gunboat Korietz against a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Rowe was back with Vivid from 13 August 1904, and then shore service with Fire Queen from 23 August 1904, and President for a Victualling Course from 3 October 1904, before joining the battleship Cornwallis from 1 December 1904 and then saw service with both the Mediterranean Fleet and the Channel Fleet, until he rejoined Vivid in February 1906. Rowe was aboard the battleship Repulse from March 1906, and then transferred to the cruiser Amphitrite in November 1906, and saw service with her on the China Station. He was aboard her when promoted to Fleet Paymaster Captain on 1 October 1907, and then received a posting home to Vivid in February 1908. Posted to Pembroke in April 1908, he then joined the battleship Agamemnon in June 1908 and remained with her as part of the Home Fleet until posted for shore service with Wildfire from September 1910, and in the following month joined the battleship Albion for further service with the Home Fleet from October 1910. As of 1911 he was living with his wife in Gillingham. Rowe was posted to the battleship Dominion from October 1912, and remained with her through into the outbreak of the Great War. As such he served with her as part of the 3rd Battle Squadron with the Home Fleet. In 1912, Dominion the 3rd Battle Squadron went to the Mediterranean Sea during the First Balkan War as part of an international blockade of Montenegro. In 1913, the ship returned to British waters.
When the Great War broke out, the 3rd Battle Squadron was assigned to the Grand Fleet, with Dominion conducting operations as part of the Northern Patrol. Through 1914 and 1915, the ships frequently went to sea to search for German vessels, but Dominion saw no action during this period. By the end of the year, the Grand Fleet stopped operating with the older 3rd Battle Squadron ships, and in 1916, the squadron was detached to the Nore Command. Rowe then transferred to the old cruiser and depot ship Crescent from 5 May 1916, she being the submarine depot ship at Scapa Flow, and he was then appointed as Assistant Paymaster-in-Chief from 1 January 1918 through to 17 June 1919, when he was re-appointed to Victory as Paymaster Captain. Latterly posted to Pembroke from 12 February 1921, he was placed on the Retired List on 4 March 1923, after having completed 39 years service. Rowe was living in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex as of 1939, his address being then 32 Hilliers Hill, and he died on 20 May 1955.
