teachers, came to Van Diemen’s Land on board the Woodlark on 8 July 1823 with Mrs Powell’s husband and their father who brought £2270 in goods and cash to the colony. They attempted farming on the Isis River and at Longford, with little success. Comments recorded in Journals of the Land Commissioners for Van Diemen’s Land 1826 28 were scathing about the venture: 'The next farm is Powells, this man bought Money with him to the Colony, but who would have thought of a Pickle Merchant turning Farmer, Mrs Powell never stirred from a Sopha which unfortunately they brought with them to the Sod Hut’. Mrs Powell, however, appears to have become more active when she and her husband turned to teaching and opened a school for young ladies in Townsend Cottage, Launceston, in 1826. John Powell was appointed government schoolmaster at Longford in November 1829 and in 1833 Mrs and the Misses Powell set up a private school in nearby Beauchamp House which offered 'music, singing and drawing’ as extras.

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Writers:

Staff Writer

Date written:

1992

Last updated:

2011