Robert Cowan was an Irish colonial

Colonialism

Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...

 administrator and the East India Company

East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

's Governor of Bombay from 1729 to 1734. He was a collateral ancestor of the Marquesses of Londonderry

Marquess of Londonderry

Marquess of Londonderry is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1816 for Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Londonderry. He had earlier represented County Down in the Irish House of Commons. Stewart had already been created Baron Londonderry in 1789, Viscount Castlereagh in 1795 and Earl...

 through the marriage of his sister, Mary Cowan, to Alexander Stewart

Alexander Stewart (1699–1781)

Alexander Stewart was an Irish landowner and ancestor of the family of the Marquess of Londonderry.The son of William Stewart, of Ballylawn in County Donegal....

, father of Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry

Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry

Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry PC , was an Irish politician and landowner, the father of politician Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh.-Early life in Dublin:...

.

Cowan was descended from Anglo-Irish Presbyterian stock, and his father, John Cowan, was an Alderman

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 of the city of Derry

Derry

Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

. He entered the service of the East India Company some time before 1720, and retired in 1735, two years before his death. In 1721, he was involved in an unsuccessful campaign against Kanhoji Angre

Kanhoji Angre

Kanhoji Angre or Conajee Angria or Sarkhel Angre was the first notable chief of the Maratha Navy in 18th century India. He fought successfully all his life against the British, Dutch and Portuguese naval interests in the Indian Ocean during the 18th century, and hence was alleged by them to be a...

. His personal fortune, amassed as Governor, became part of the basis of the wealth of the Stewart family for generations.