Powell, William (1845-1922)

Family

William was born in 1845 at St Margaret’s, Herefordshire, to parents Thomas Powell, a farmer, and Elizabeth Watkins.

He married Elizabeth Jones (abt1849-1882) in the summer of 1869 in the Weobley Registration District, Herefordshire.

He married Mary Ellen Zillmann (1851-1902) on 5 September 1883 in Queensland, Australia.

William died on 2 August 1922 at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Circuits

1865 Southampton
1867 Newbury
1869 Winchester
1871 London II
1873 Bedford
1874 to Australia
1874 Rockhampton
1875 Brisbane
1880 Ipswich
1883 Rockhampton
1890 Brisbane II
1893 Brisbane IV
1895 Bundaberg
1898 disappears

References

W Leary, Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits, 1990

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers

Author

Geoff Dickinson

Page added

23/10/2020

Comments about this page

Thanks for this very useful website.
As to William Powell, he is described as disappearing in 1898. In 1902, the various Methodist denominations in Australia (including the Primitive Methodists) amalgamated and became known simply as Methodists after that. So I imagine many Australian Primitive Methodists disappeared around that time!
In the case of William Powell, he was the president of the Queensland Primitive Methodists at the time of the amalgamation, so was very involved in that process. He wrote a book about it
https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/12456447
Here is his obituary which lists more of his activities:
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20562792
with a very poor photo.
I don’t have any personal connection with him, just stumbled over him when I was researching the history of the Primitive Methodist Church in Sharon, a sugarcane farming district near Bundaberg. Powell opened that church in 1896. It was the first church in the Sharon district so it was arranged that the Primitive Methodists would use it for services on 3 Sundays each month but that one Sunday each month would be available for services by other denominations.
More about him here (I was surprised to find he opened the Chapel Hill PM church which is near my home and which is still standing)
https://historyoutthere.com/2018/03/10/meet-the-pioneers-reborn-by-the-chapel-on-the-hill/
His son Lange Leopold Powell was a noted Australian architect
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/powell-lange-leopold-8088
By Kery Raymond (02/03/2022)