RootsChat.Com

I've had a quick scan through the British Library digitised newspapers. By narrowing the search to late April/early May and the exact phrase "William Powell" I got a few encouraging hits, and specifically p9 of the Hereford Times for 2 May: the search returned:

"Rev. William Powell was born at Abergavenny, on the 17th of Decembrr, 1769. His father was the Rev. William Powell, M.A., vicar of Llantilio Pertholey, and a magistrate for the county of Monmouth. His paternal ancestors had been clergymen for many..."

This is a pay-per-view site and I don't currently have any credits, but an investment of a small amount of money might produce some good info. (I've had huge success in my researches already)

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

My limited experience of reading War Diaries is that you'll rarely find any mention of specific individuals (I was looking for background to an MM award in one case). Officers' names mentioned - not always but sometimes - when joining the unit, other ranks are rarely mentioned.
But an absolutely fascinating read all the same. Written in pencil on the front line, quite hard to read, the documents gave areal feel for the action despite lack of detail. I was well aware that I might be the first person to read these documents since they were sent home from France or Egypt.

There are copies at the British Library Newspapers at Colindale, but that's either a matter of going there yourself or getting a researcher to go for you.
The new online service has the title from 1844 only.
Have you tried the Fife library service - local studies collection?

This might be a starter for you....


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhr

It's worth having a look at the Almanach de Gotha -see their website www.almanachdegotha.org/ but you might need to consult hard copy in a library; some might be available on archive.org or Google Books.

I'm having similar problems with a von Oettingen - the branch of the family I'm interested in seem not to be the senior branch so aren't in Gotha.....