Walter Powell (17 April 1842 – 10 December 1881) was a Welsh colliery owner and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1881.
His company now operates under the name of Powell Duffryn plc in the areas of ports and engineering, although the coal and railway interests were nationalised in the 1940s.
[3] This interest developed in the late 1870s and he began studying ballooning with Henry Coxwell, one of the leading balloonists of the day.
As a result, the balloon rose again; Agg-Gardner fell out from a height of about 8 feet (2.4 m) and broke his leg, and Powell, remaining in the car, was swept out to sea to the south-east.
[4] The beaches on England's southern coast were combed for washed-up wreckage or clues, but neither Powell nor the balloon were recovered.