From 1917, moreover, he became the museum's honorary curator of reptiles and amphibians, herpetology being the field in which he achieved wide renown as a regional specialist.

He had been encouraged in this direction by Dr Louis Péringuey, Director of the South African Museum in Cape Town.

Power succeeded Wilman as Director of the McGregor Museum in 1947 and oversaw major expansion and changes in the administration of the institution during the decade that he was at the helm.

Here Power was responsible for a set of state-of-the-art natural history dioramas, constructed with the help of artist Nellie Steenkamp.

[1] The Board of Trustees continued to run the museum as it had from the start, but was now able to look to the appointment of extra professional staff.