THE
POWER, WEISE, SAMUEL, VAUGHAN GENEALOGY
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Please also visit the diagram that accompanies this summary. 1. Genealogists are of the opinion the most likely source is that the name derived from the inhabitants of a village or rural area in the ancient French province of Picardy known as Pois or (latinised) Poix. The term meant 'fish' or a 'well stocked river'. Inhabitants of Picardy migrated to Britain during the 1120s and people from Pois were known by that name. Eventually it degenerated into Poer. 2. The village poor. People suffering poverty were stigmatised with the term poor no matter what other name they might have carried. Bishop Roger, bishop of Salisbury in 12th century, whom some believe was the progenitor of the English and Irish Power family, derived his name from this source. He was a "poor" priest brought over from Avranches in Normandy by King Henry 1st about 1130 and (eventually) rose to the exhalted position of chancellor. While Bishop Roger is known to have had children, genealogists can find no evidence of a continuing genetic line. 3. The papal count, Edmond de La Poer Power, in the 19th century, claimed the family descended from the ancient comte de Poher in Bretagne (Brittany) which became extinct in 937. The count's claim was expanded by Gabriel O. C. Redmond in 1891 in his book: The Family of Poher, Poer or Power. A noted genealogist at the time, Dr J. Horace Round, refuted the count's claim and said, "the name had no more to do with a Bretton comte than had Smith to do with Smeeth, which means a level plain". Nevertheless, Redmond quoted various earlier genealogists to support the count's assertions. If count de La Poer Power's claims are correct, the family's genealogy may extend as far back as the Merovingian Frankish conqueror of ancient Gaul, Clovis. Direct descendants of Clovis fled to Brittany during the Carolingian usurpation of the Frankish empire and his descendant, Gemege, married the count of Poher, c. 900. In the male line, the counts of Poher also descend from Conmore, who probably fled to Brittany from Wales during the time of the Saxon invasion, about the year 480. The Castle of Donoyle
This castle was built about 1200 by Sir Robert Poer, believed to have
been one of the sons of Sir Bartholomew Poer, lord of Blackborough, Devon,
England. Sir George Carew, noted genealogist and historian of the 19th
century, says: "out of Powerscourt
The estate of Powerscourt near Enniskerry, in County Wicklow, was originally
held by Simon Poer, believed to be
The Curraghmore Manor
The Curraghmore estate was granted to Richard Power, distant cousin of
the baron of Donoyle, when he was elevated The gardens of this estate are opened to the public every Thursday afternoon and are well worth a visit. The Powerscourt gardens, once among the top 5 in Europe and still magnificent, are open every day. This information is extracted from the book "Morgan and a History of the Power Family" by Bill Power, 1997. If anyone would like further details please contact Bill Power .
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