William Thomas Powell

From ESAT
Revision as of 17:10, 28 June 2020 by Satj (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

William Thomas Powell (1880-?) was an occasional stage hand for the Leonard Rayne company.


Came to South Africa in 1902 with William Russel (better known as Bill Russel). They arrived in Cape Town on September and then reached Johannesburg by train on 15 October. While in Johannesburg he worked for three carriage builders (at different times) and at night he and Bill would work as flymen for the Leonard Rayne company in the Gaiety Theatre.

He returned to England at the end of 1903, and in about 1920 he went to the USA and settled in the Los Angeles area, California.

Powell's reminiscences of their period there (published as "Excerpts from the Memoirs of William T. Powell") contain interesting information on Johannesburg at the time and of the work of the Leonard Rayne Company, its manager and its performers in 1902-3.


"Excerpts from the Memoirs of William T. Powell", In: Maryna Fraser. 1985. Johannesburg Pioneer Journals, 1888-1909, Cape Town: The Van Riebeeck Society.

Retrieved from "https://esat.sun.ac.za/index.php?title=William_Thomas_Powell&oldid=191518"