Charles Thomas Rowcroft was the first British diplomatic representative in Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. He arrived in Lima

Lima

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...

 as Consul General in 1825, accompanied by his daughter, Ellen. His son and writer Charles Rowcroft

Charles Rowcroft

Charles Rowcroft , pastoralist and novelist, the son of Charles Thomas Rowcroft, a British consul in Peru.Rowcroft was educated at Eton, after which he went to Hobart Town, Australia, in 1821 and took up a grant of 2,000 acres...

 stayed in the UK. At this time Lima was temporarily in the power of the royalists. Conditions in the city were awful.

However, shortly after Rowcroft's arrival Simón Bolívar

Simón Bolívar

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...

 returned to Lima from the interior and the Spanish retreated to Castle of Real Felipe. Rowcroft decided to visit a friend in Callao

Callao

Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...

 and arranged for a safe pass through the royalist lines. On the return from his visit he handed in his safe pass but, as his coach left the outpost, it was struck by a hail of bullets. Rowcroft was killed and his daughter disappeared.

It is not known for sure whether it was the "royalist

Monarchism

Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy as a form of government in a nation. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government out of principle, independent from the person, the Monarch.In this system, the Monarch may be the...

s" or the "patriots" who were responsible but it is said that the royalist officer who gave him the safe pass had, unknown to Rowcroft, written a death sentence on it. What happened to his daughter is unknown.

At Markham College

Markham College

Markham College is a school in Lima, Peru. Founded by British expatriates, Markham promotes a mixture of British and Peruvian education supported by a strictly enforced set of traditions. Its students fulfill the Peruvian national curriculum, as well as the IGCSE program from the University of...

, the only house not named after a military figure is Rowcroft.