Charles Wilfrid Roberts Powell

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Chemist

Birthplace New South Wales Sydney AustraliaPlace of Residence at HM Factory Gretna Staff Quarters Date of Birth: January 19, 1892 Date of Death: January 19, 1965

Biography

Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by): Charles Wilfred Roberts Powell

Gender: Male

Date and Place of Birth: 1892 Sydney NSW Australia

Date and Place of Death: 1965 Palm Beach NSW

Nationality: Australian

Biography

Childhood:

Parents: Charles Edward and Maria Louisa (nee Roberts) Powell

Parent’s occupations: N/K

Schools / universities attended and years of attendance: Univ of Sydney

Occupation: Chemist

Place of residence at Gretna: Staff Quarters, Sarkbridge,

Job title at Gretna: Chemical Department at Dornock.

Marital status: Married Alice Evelyn (nee Wilson) Powell 1922 in NZ

Children: Two daughters. Sybil Corinne (nee Powell) Druce b.15/07/1928 d.01/02/2021 and another older daughter.

Travels: UK and USA

Awards/recognitions: Associate of the Institute of Chemistry 1918

Trivia / any other information: None

Bibliography

Articles published (Title, year of publication, publisher):

The action of alkalis on dextrose and laevulose

Transactions of the Journal of the Chemistry Society 1915 Vol 107

The viscosity of sugar solutions

Transactions of the Journal of the Chemistry Society 1914 Vol 105
Books written about the individual or mentioning the individual
(Title, year of publication, publisher): N/K

References

Blogs about the individual: N/K

Websites about the individual: N/K

Charles Wilfred Roberts Powell

Charles Wilfred Roberts Powell was an Australian who came to work as a Chemist at Dornock. After the War he returned to his native Australia.

Charles was born in 1892 in the outskirts of Sydney in Australia, the son of Charles Edward and Maria Louisa Powell. Roberts was his mother’s maiden name (1). He graduated in Chemistry from the University of Sydney.

He wrote two papers for the Journal of the Chemistry Society: “The viscosity of sugar solutions” in 1914 and “The action of alkalis on dextrose and laevulose” in 1915 (2).

Charles worked in the Chemical Department at Dornock. His address during his work at Gretna was Staff Quarters, Sarkbridge, Gretna. He was elected as an Associate of the Institute of Chemistry in 1918, under the special provisions of the Regulations adopted by Council, July 1917.

His address on leaving Gretna was his mother’s home “Guyra”, Gladstone Avenue, Mosman, New South Wales, Australia (3).

On his return Down Under, he married Alice Evelyn Wilson in 1922 in her native New Zealand. They had two daughters, the youngest of which, Sybil Corinne was born in 1928 and died in 2021 (4). Charles worked as a Chemist and later as a Company Director. His work

involved him travelling, including to the UK and the USA. In September 1933, Evelyn accompanied Charles on a business trip to New York via San Francisco. The meticulous records of the US Immigration Dept give their details. Charles was 5 feet 10 inches, with fair hair and hazel eyes. Evelyn was 5 feet 2 inches, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Both declared that they were neither polygamists nor anarchists! They stayed at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotal in NYC. Charles died in 1965 in Palm Beach, New South Wales.