COWAN, Sir Robert (d.1737), of London.

Of unknown parentage, Cowan, an official of the East India Company, was recalled in December 1734 as a result of complaints made against him by merchants, being refused the customary vote of thanks by the company’s court.Court bks. 13 Jan. 1729, 22 Dec. 1731, 26 Jan. 1732, 10 Aug. 1733, 18 Feb. 1735, India Office Recs. Soon after his return from India he was put up as a Whig for Tregony by Walpole in 1737 as ‘a moneyed man and a sure hand’.Sir Chas. Wager to Sir Robt. Walpole, 24 July 1736, Cholmondeley (Houghton) mss. He died a few days later on 21 Feb., leaving his fortune to his half-brother,Gent. Mag. 1737, pp. 125, 253. a free merchant at Bombay.European inhabitants Bombay 1719-87, India Office Recs.