Walter Powell (17 April 1842 – 10 December 1881) was a Welsh colliery owner and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1881. Powell was carried out over the English Channel in a balloon and never seen again.
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Powell was the son of Thomas Powell of Newport Monmouthshire and his wife Anne Williams, daughter of Walter Williams.[1] His father had interests in coal, railways and shipping and was one of the world's largest coal producers in the 1840s. His company now operates under the name of Powell Duffryn plc in the areas of ports and engineering, although the coal and railway interests were nationalised in the 1940s.[2] Powell was educated at Rugby School and continued in the family business. He was a J.P. for Wiltshire. His great interest was ballooning.[3]
At the 1868 general election Powell was elected Member of Parliament for Malmesbury. He held the seat until his disappearance and presumed death from a balloon accident at the age of 37 in 1881.[2]
The Meteorological Society had borrowed a balloon called Saladin from the War Office. On 10 December 1881 Powell accompanied Captain Templer and James Agg-Gardner in an ascent at Bath. The balloon was carried over Somerset to Exeter and then into Dorset. The crew tried to descend near Bridport but the balloon hit the ground so hard that Templer was thrown out. As a result the balloon rose again, Agg Gardner fell out from a height of about eight feet and broke his leg, and Powell, remaining in the car, was swept out to sea to the south east. He was last seen waving his hand to Captain Templer and nothing more was heard of him.[2][4]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Viscount Andover |
Member of Parliament for Malmesbury 1868 – 1881 |
Succeeded by Charles William Miles |