:William Edward Powell

{{Short description|Welsh Lord Lieutenant and Conservative politician}}

File:Portrait of Coll. Powell, M.P (4674716).jpg

William Edward Powell (16 February 1788 – 10 April 1854) was a Welsh Lord Lieutenant and Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiganshire from 1816 until shortly before his death in 1854.

Life

He was the eldest son of Thomas Powell of Nanteos and Elinor Corbet, daughter of Edward Maurice Corbet of Ynysymaengwyn, Merionethshire. He was educated at Westminster School, and matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford in 1804.{{alox2|title=Powell, William Edward}}

Brought up in France by his widowed mother, Powell finally occupied his father's estate at Nanteos, near Aberystwyth at the age of 21 in 1809. He was made High Sheriff of Cardiganshire in 1810. He became the Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire in 1817.{{Cite DWB|id=s-POWE-NAN-1650 |title=Powell family, of Nanteos}}

Despite earning a reputation for living beyond his means and evidence of neglect on his substantial Cardiganshire estates, he was returned to Parliament in 1816 as a Conservative upon the death of Thomas Johnes. There was some support at the time for Herbert Evans of Highmead as an alternative candidate but Powell secured the candidacy soon after issuing an address to the electors.{{sfn|Gorman|1995|p=119}} He was destined to sit for eleven successive parliaments without a single competitor.[https://books.google.com/books?id=beUa1m_kZ2MC&pg=PA648 the Gentlemans Magazine] However, there were occasional challenges to his tenure. As early as 1820, friends of Pryse Pryse, the member for Cardigan Boroughs were said to be seeking to secure him the county seat at the expense of Powell. However, this opposition dis not materialise when Powell returned to the county for the nomination, having not undertaken any personal canvassing in advance.

Powell made no recorded speeches in the Commons between 1820 and 1832.{{cite web|last1=Escott|first1=Margaret|title=William Edward Powell (1788–1854) of Nanteoes, Cardiganshire|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/powell-william-1788-1854|publisher=Institute of Historical Research|website=The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820|access-date=30 September 2017}}

As Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire and MP for the county, Powell considered it necessary to entertain on a lavish scale both at Nanteos and at his London residence. He was regularly reprimanded by his legal advisors of the precarious financial position of the estate. Despite this, he embarked in 1845 upon a substantial renovation at Nanteos, with a new wing and portico being added, designed by Edward Heycock of Shrewsbury. These renovations cost nearly £3,000 when completed in 1847.{{sfn|Gorman|1995|p=123}}

In February 1854, Powell announced his retirement from the House of Commons.{{cite news |title=Editorial [untitled] |url=https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4348085/4348087/10 |access-date=24 January 2019 |newspaper=Welshman |date=10 February 1854 |page=2}}

Powell died at his London home on 10 April 1854.{{cite news|title=Cardiganshire. Death of Colonel Powell.|url=http://newspapers.library.wales/view/4348130/4348133/23|access-date=4 October 2017|agency=Welshman|date=14 April 1854|page=3}} On Monday, 17 April, his remains returned to Nanteos, and were subsequently interred in the family vault at Llanbadarn Fawr. In the town of Aberystwyth, a mile from his burial place, all the shops and business were closed for the day.{{cite news|title=Aberystwyth. Funeral of the late Colonel Powell |url=http://newspapers.library.wales/view/4348135/4348138/29/|access-date=4 October 2017|agency=Welshman|date=21 April 1854|page=3}} The estate was left to his eldest son.{{cite web | url = http://www.spanglefish.com/nanteos/index.asp?pageid=175940| title= Occupants at Nanteos|access-date= 2011-07-05}}

Family

Powell married Laura-Edwyna Phelp, eldest daughter of James Sacksville Tufton Phelp, of Coston House Leics in 1810, and had two sons:

William Thomas Rowland Powell (4 August 1815 – 13 May 1878), who served as MP for Cardiganshire from 1859 until 1865.
Cornelius Powell

Laura died in 1822. He married again in 1841 to Harriet Dell, widow of George Ackers of Moreton Hall, Cheshire.

References

Sources

{{cite journal |last1=Gorman |first1=D. |title=William Powell of Nanteos and Public Affairs in Early Nineteenth Century Cardiganshire |journal=National Library of Wales Journal |date=1995 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=119–25 |url=https://datasyllwr.llgc.org.uk/journals/pdf/AWJBO108014.pdf |access-date=21 March 2019}}