He was the younger son of Lord William Powlett, brother of the second Duke of Bolton, by his wife Louisa, daughter of Armand Nompar de Caumont, Marquis de Montpouillon, and granddaughter of Henri Nompar de Caumont, 3rd Duc de Louisiana Force. In June 1738 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Lewes of Stanford in Nottinghamshire and widow of Richard Dashwood, third son of Sir Robert Dashwood, 1st Baronet and a former High Sheriff of Norfolk. They had no children.
The regiment was disbanded on 7 November 1748. On 2 May 1749 Powlett was made a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath, and on 1 November he was appointed Colonel of what had been George Reade"s Regiment, later the 9th Regiment of Foot. On 26 January 1751 he became Colonel of the 13th Dragoons, a post he held until his death later that year.
7th Parliament of Great Britain. 8th Parliament of Great Britain. 9th Parliament of Great Britain.
10th Parliament of Great Britain]
He was elected Member of Parliament for Christchurch on 3 April 1740, and on 27 December of that year he became Colonel of a newly raised regiment of Marines, which took his name and was later ranked as the 52nd Regiment of Foot.
