Laura Hirtzel Powell was born on the 17th october 1828 in The County of Devon. She would move to Carmarthen in 1846, whose dairy entries provide great detailing of the religious household, she held onto for 60 years. She died on 23rd December 1901. She would be buried at the Alltyblaca Unitarian Chapel.
Life
Laura Hirtzel Powell was born in 1828 to George Eyre Powell and Catherine Kingdon. Her father came from County Kildare in Ireland and was a notable naval officer. Her mother was the daughter of the mayor of Exeter. She was the middle child among her siblings: George, Ophelia, Narcissa, Lavinia, Lavra and Devia.
They lived Axminster. In 1855, her father would die at the age of 65 years. She remained with her widowed mother and two younger sisters. Her mother would die on 17th Aug 1862, at age 74. This would be followed by the death of her sister Ophelia in 1866.
She would take the responsibility of the family her sister left behind, moving in with her brother-in-law at Carmarthen. She brought literacy and science, to not just the household but the community. She often approached the local townswomen for advice relating to the operation of sewing machines and the insulation of gas to power the home.
Eventually the family would move to Birkenhead in Cheshire, sometime before the 1881 census. She would be noted down as a housekeeper, a role typically seen for domestic staff to do the cleaning.Between 1891 and 1894, she wrote a volume of letters with postcards to her nephew, George Eyre Evans.
She died on the 23rd December 1901. Her probate would be registered in London on 28th Jan 1902. She is referred to as a spinster, a common word for unwedded women. In 1911, her close friend Sarah Ann Doidge would be buried next to her, who shared a close friendship in life.