871 Walter Powell

Constituency : Carmarthenshire  1880-85, Carmarthenshire  West  1885-9

Walter  took   one  of  the  Carmarthenshire  seats  back  from  the  Tories.

Walter  was  a  local  landowner. He  was  educated  at  Oxford.  He  was  originally  a  Conservative  supporter  but  gradually  moved  over  to  radical  Liberalism.  He  was  a  master  of  foxhounds  and  a  local  benefactor  to  the  town  of  Llanboidy  where  he  restored  the  parish  church ,  built  a  new  market  hall  and  founded  a  brass  band. In  the  1870s  he  was  active  in  the  United  Counties  Benefit  Society  for  improving  the  living  conditions  of  agricultural  labourers.

Walter  did  not  speak  in  Parliament. Although  an  Anglican  himself  he  supported  Welsh  disestablishment. Similarly he  supported  tenants'  rights. He  was  also  sympathetic  to  the  cause  of  the  Rebecca  rioters.  He  built  his  own  school  and  became  its  one-man  school  board  because  the  local  vicar  refused  to  let  non-conformists  opt  out  of  catechism  lessons. Local  newspapers  attacked  him  as  a  destructive  radical.

Walter  was  a  leading  owner  and  trainer  of  racehorses.

He  died  in  1889  aged  70  after  a  long  illness  which  prevented  him  from  sitting  on  horseback.  He  left  money  for  improving  the  water  supply  of  Llanboidy  in  his  will  which  his  widow  then  supervised.