Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Power, Marguerite A.
POWER, Miss MARGUERITE A. (1815?–1867), was a daughter of Colonel Power, and niece of Marguerite, countess of Blessington [q. v.] She spent much time with her aunt, and after the break up at Gore House in April 1849, Miss Power and her sister accompanied their aunt to Paris. Miss Power wrote a memoir of Lady Blessington, which was prefixed to Lady Blessington's novel, ‘Country Quarters,’ published in 1850; it is reprinted in the ‘Journal of the Conversations of Lord Byron with the Countess of Blessington,’ 1893.
From 1851 to 1857 Miss Power edited the ‘Keepsake.’ In 1860 she published a poem, ‘Virginia's Hand,’ dedicated to John Forster. It is a story told in poor blank verse, and evidently written under the influence of Mrs. Browning's ‘Aurora Leigh.’ Landor, however, highly praised Miss Power's poetical efforts, especially a poem written by her in Heath's ‘Book of Beauty.’ Her last publication was an account of a winter's residence in Egypt, entitled ‘Arabian Days and Nights, or Rays from the East,’ 1863. It is dedicated to Janet and Henry Ross, with whom she stayed at Alexandria. Miss Power died, after a long illness, in July 1867. She was an accomplished woman, possessing considerable personal attractions and some sense of humour (cf. Hall, Book of Memories, pp. 404–5).
Her works, other than those already mentioned, are: 1. ‘Evelyn Forester: a Woman's Story,’ 1856. 2. ‘The Foresters,’ 2 vols. 3. ‘Letters of a Betrothed,’ 1858. 4. ‘Nelly Carew,’ 1859, 2 vols. 5. ‘Sweethearts and Wives,’ 1861, 3 vols., 2nd edit. She also contributed to the ‘Irish Metropolitan Magazine,’ ‘Forget-me-not,’ and ‘Once a Week.’
[Allibone's Dict. of Engl. Lit. p. 1167; Madden's Countess of Blessington, ii. 393; O'Donoghue's Poets of Ireland, p. 208; Gent. Mag. 1867, ii. 266.]