A photographic postcard of William H. Powsey himself that was sent to his son Professor A.E. Powsey on November 9th 1919. These scanned images are kindly sent by Barbara Garner, a Grandaughter of A.E. Powsey. Barbara says ' From the Powsey Family Tree we have decided that this is a picture of our Great Great-Grandfather- William H Powsey...' The card appears to say: 'Nov. 9 1919, Dear Son and Daughter hope you are well if this old Veteran lives to the 19 of this month he will be for (81 years?) Still in the Pink W H P Wilmington' In context, this card would have been sent not long after WW1 in which many of his grandsons would have gone to fight...Horace had been wounded in the hand, Archie allegedly in the head, Percy allegedly in the stomach and back, and allegedly a prisoner of war. It was also not long after the great influenza epidemic. If the 1881 cencus has his age correct at 42 years W.H. Powsey would have been 80 or 81 years old when this card was sent.

The Immediate Family of Albert Edward Powsey, and Powsey's in the U.K. 1881

Sonny Powsey, currently in the UK and researching some births, and the Canadian Powsey contingent using the 1881 census have both independently come up with a likely candidate family for A. E. Powsey to have been born into:

Dwelling: 50 Unity St.Census place: Minster in Sheppey, Kent, England
William H. Powsey...Married...Age 42...Male... Born Wilmington, Kent, England
Sarah Powsey...Married...Age 45...Female...Sawston, Cambridge, England
Ann E. Powsey...Age 13...Female...Sheerness, Kent, England
William H. Powsey...Age 6...Male Sheerness, Kent, England

Albert Edward Powsey would be absent because it is likely that in this year he was beyond the census on board a merchant ship working as a cabin boy in the West Indies.

To provide a rough idea of how small a pool the Powsey name consisted of here's a breakdown of the Powsey's found on the 18881 British census:

-A total of 32 Powsey names appear on the census.

-There are 8 dwellings with a Powsey as a head of the household.

-The bulk of the Powseys are in Greater London and the spawning grounds of the Dartford and Wilmington area of Kent.

-A woman called Harriott Powsey and her daughter live in Norfolk.

-There are 2 dwellings with Powsey's as guests or visitors or live-in relatives.

-3 unfortunate Powsey's are in workhouses.

-There is a note on the margin of the printout suggesting that there is also a Phyllis Powsey in jail. Will check up on this later!

Occupations of the Powsey Clan include: Laundress, Agricultural Labourer, 'Scholar' or school child, shoemaker (but in the workhouse), Carpenter, General Labourer, Brewers Servant, Domestic Servant, Paper Pattern Makers, and, in one family, a Printer-Compositor with a Photographer son.

William H. Powsey, head of our candidate family for A. E. Powsey, is a 'Coxwain H M Dockyard (Seaman)'. This seems to be an appropriately maritime family, and the only Powsey family in Sheerness, Kent, where A. E. Powsey is known to have been born.

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