Edmund Stanley Rowlands was an accomplished university student, the son of Charles Rowlands, a widower residing at Ty-pen-y-waun, Oakdale. A former pupil from 1908 to 1913 at the historic Lewis School, Pengam—an elite institution remarkably founded in 1729 and known affectionately as the "Eton of the Valleys"—he moved on to higher education at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. He eagerly enlisted there, joining the South Wales Borderers initially before transferring to a specialist technical role in the Royal Engineers.

Pioneer Rowlands deployed to the Western Front, where he was severely wounded during the heavy fighting at the Battle of Flers–Courcelette, the initial stage of the Somme campaign in 1916. He was evacuated back to the homefront via hospital ships, eventually arriving at a Salford Military Hospital in Manchester for specialized treatment.

Tragically, he died of wounds on 19 August 1916, aged just 21. Because he passed away on British soil, his family was able to bring him home to Monmouthshire; he was buried on 26 August in the family plot within Penmaen Chapelyard. His academic promise and ultimate sacrifice are permanently commemorated on the roll of honour at Lewis School, as well as on the bronze plaques detailed at the Aberystwyth University War Memorial archive.