MD Edinburgh 1768.
Cowling was born sometime before 1750 and was educated at Edinburgh. He was appointed assistant physician at MRI in 1780 and in 1781 agreed to visit the patients in their homes, at the discretion of the honorary physicians. In 1789 Cowling, along with Dr Eason, resigned his duties of visiting the home patients, as a reaction to proposals to increase the number of staff. They both resigned completely in 1790. Cowling remained involved with medicine in Manchester, opposing the establishment of fever wards in Portland Street in 1796.