Montgomeryshire [SEP] inception
. The prince took an English-style surname - Owen de-la Pole - after his capital city, Pool (now Welshpool).
With the introduction of the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 the marcher lordships were converted into English counties. The Lordship of Powys - the former Powys Wenwynwyn - became Montgomeryshire; the county town being Montgomery, the strongest centre of English authority in the region, rather than centre of Welsh authority, Welshpool. Montgomeryshire was thus ultimately formed from the "cantrefi" of Powys Wenwynwyn:
a Deputy Lieutenant of Denbighshire,
and a captain in the Denbighshire Yeomanry.
He was chairman of the Llanidloes & Newtown Railway, the first in Montgomeryshire, from its inception in 1852 and was the first chairman of the Mid Wales Railway in 1859. He was also active in the Railway Benevolent Institution and the National Temperance League.
Parliamentary career.
He unsuccessfully stood for Parliament at the 1852 general election in Montgomery, and was returned to Parliament on his second attempt at a by-election in December 1852