William Edward Powell was a British Lord Lieutenant and Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Cardiganshire from 1816 until shortly before his death in 1854. 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 Christ Church, Oxford. Brought up in France by his widowed mother, he finally occupied his father's estate at Nanteos, near Aberystwyth 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. 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. He was destined to sit for eleven successive parliaments without a single competitor. 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. He married Laura-Edwyna Phelp, eldest daughter of James Sacksville Tufton Phelp, of Coston House Leics in 1810, and had two sons:
Laura died in 1822. He married again in 1841 to Harriet Dell, widow of George Ackers of Moreton Hall, Cheshire. 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. In February 1854, Powell announced his retirement from the House of Commons. Powell died at his London home on 10 April 1854. On Monday, 17 April, his remains returned to Nanteoes, and the following days were 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. The estate was left to his eldest son.
