Rowley was the son of Charles Rowley ("a Radical of the old type and a Peterloo man"), born at Ancoats. He was in childhood rather delicate which restricted his education; later he learned well and also taught in the Bennett Street Schools, Oldham Road. In 1875 he was elected to the city council; in 1878 he gave up his Bennett Street work. He next began a movement called "Recreation in Ancoats" which was succeeded by the Ancoats Brotherhood. The movement encouraged cottage-window gardening and provided music in the local parks. From 1881 the Sunday afternoon lectures brought many notable speakers to Ancoats. Rowley became a magistrate in 1893. He was honoured with an honorary M.A. degree by the Victoria University in 1902. He was the author of Fifty Years of Work without Wages, 1912.
