William Edward Powell

Who was William Edward Powell?

William Edward Powell was a British Lord Lieutenant and Member of Parliament.

He was the eldest son of Thomas Powell, and was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. Brought up in France by his widowed mother, he finally occupied his father's estate at Nanteos, near Aberystwith at the age of 21 in 1809 and was made High Sheriff of Cardiganshire in 1810. He became the Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire in 1817.

In 1816 he was returned to Parliament as a Conservative upon the death of Thomas Johnes, where he sat for eleven successive parliaments without a single competitor.

He 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

Cornelius Powell

Laura died in 1822. He married again in 1841 to Harriet Dell, widow of George Ackers of Moreton Hall, Cheshire. William Edward died aged 66 and the estate was left to his eldest son.