Career
Born the second son of John Rous, 1st Earl of Stradbroke, Rous was educated at Westminster School, and entered the Royal Navy in 1808, serving as a midshipman in the Walcheren Campaign the following year. He was afterwards appointed to the HMS Bacchante, and received a medal for bravery in various actions and expeditions.
In 1823 he was made captain, and in 1825 he was given command of HMS Rainbow. He served in the Indian and New Holland stations from 1823 to 1829. In April 1827, he organised Sydney's first regatta. In August 1828, he explored the Tweed and Richmond Rivers in northeastern New South Wales. The area between these rivers is known as Rous County, but counties in Australia are not widely-known and are mainly used for cadastral purposes. While in Moreton Bay he named Rous Channel, Dunwich, Queensland, Stradbroke Island after his family titles and influenced the naming of Ipswich, Queensland.
In 1834, he was appointed to the command of the HMS Pique, a 36-gun frigate, which ran ashore on the coast of Labrador and was greatly damaged. Rous, however, brought her across the Atlantic Ocean with a sprung foremast and without keel, forefoot or rudder, and though the ship was making 23 inches of water an hour.
Read more about this topic: Henry John Rous
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