John Rous

John Rous (John Rouse) (1710–1760) was an English naval commander. He participated in King George's War off the shores of Nova Scotia. He was second in command at the Siege of Louisbourg (1745). In the fall of 1746 with Annapolis Royal under threat of attack by the remnants of Duc d'Anville's fleet, Captain Rous, commanding the ship Shirley Galley, was ordered to assist in the defence of the fort. There he along with Captain Spry "agreed to haul their ships under the Fort upon the arrival of the fleet and land their men and guns for the defence of it.". In 1747, after the Battle of Grand Pré, Rous sailed for the Minas Basin with a detachment under the command of Captain Winslow, to re-establish British control over the area.

He was also the senior naval officer on the Nova Scotia station during Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755). The main officer under his command was Silvanus Cobb. He made a significant contribution to the preservation of Halifax and the defeat of the French, Acadian and Mi'kmaq resistance. He commanded the Albany. As the admiralty did not provide effective naval forces for the defence of Nova Scotia, Rous improvised to establish and protect the new British settlements at Halifax, Lunenburg, and Lawrencetown. He also worked to protect the long established British settlements at Canso and Annapolis Royal, as well as the new British forts in the Acadian communities of Grand Pre (Fort Vieux Logis), Pisiquid (Fort Edward) and Chignecto (see Battle at Chignecto). Under his command were three 14-gun sloops of the Royal Navy, the occasional man-of-war from England, and several New England coasting vessels.

In 1753, Rous was a member of the Nova Scotia Council. He was also a part of the British victory at Battle of Fort Beauséjour.

There are a number of landmarks in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia named after him: Rous Island (the location of the Raid on Lunenburg (1756)), Rous Point and Rous Shoal.

He died in Portsmouth, England on April 3, 1760.