Early life The name Baden had been a given name in a Powell family since 1731, when Susannah Powell née Thistlethwayte (1696–1762) gave to her child (1731–1792) the maiden name of her mother, Susannah Baden (1663–1692). The name Baden, particularly when associated with the surname Powell, became famous in 1900–1901, the year Arthur William Baden Powell was born, because of the
siege of Mafeking, the most famous British action in the
Second Boer War, which turned the British commander of the besieged,
Robert Baden-Powell, into a national hero. Throughout the British Empire, babies were named after him. No family connection has yet been established between Arthur William Baden Powell and Robert Baden-Powell. Powell was born at
Wellington, New Zealand, on 4 April 1901, to driver Arthur Powell, and his wife, Minnie Sablofski. His schooling was in
Auckland, and he trained in printing at the
Elam School of Fine Arts. From 1932 Powell participated in dredging expeditions on the British research ship
Discovery II exploring coastal
Northland and discovering large numbers of new species. Other field trips from the 1930s to 1960 took him to
Stewart Island, the
Chatham Islands, the
Kermadec Islands and the
Antarctica and
Subantarctic region, resulting in many important papers. In 1936, Powell was appointed as the assistant director of Auckland War Memorial Museum, a position he held until he retired in 1968. Powell died on 1 July 1987 in Auckland. ==Personal life==