What is "powys"

Powys ( or ; Welsh: ) is a principal area, local-government county and preserved county in Mid Wales. It is named after the successor Kingdom of Powys, which formed after the Romans withdrew from Britain.

Powys is a Welsh surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Littleton Powys, judge (1647-1732)
• Thomas Powys (judge) (1649-1719)
• John Cowper Powys, novelist, lecturer and philosopher (1872 – 1963)
• Llewelyn Powys, essayist, brother of John Cowper, Philippa and T.F.
• Philippa Powys, novelist and poet, sister of John Cowper, Llewelyn and T.F.
• T. F. Powys, writer
• Betsan Powys, political journalist and editor for BBC Wales

Of the people above, the first six are descended from the same family that was clearly found in Ludlow, Shropshire in the sixteenth century. There is evidence, but not strong, from the seventeenth century that the Ludlow Powyses came from Cockshutt, also in Shropshire (see the unpublished 1662/3 Visitation of Shropshire in the College of Arms). The Cockshutt Powyses (and Powis and Powes, etc.) are to be found in public records from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (see charters in Shropshire Record Office). There are other families of Powis, who also are probably descended from this Cockshutt branch. It is possible that these Powys/Powis/Powes are of Welsh ancestry but there is no clear evidence to support this.