Powys was born in Dorchester, the son of a Welsh clergyman, and was educated at Sherborne School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. While lecturing in the United States he contracted tuberculosis. After his return in 1909, he travelled again, living for a while in Switzerland. His time spent in Africa, farming with his brother William near Gilgil in British East Africa (now in Kenya) from 1914 to 1919, was to prove inspirational, as were many of his other life experiences. His other writings include a novel, Apples Be Ripe (1930), and a biography of Henry Hudson (1927). He was very friendly with Hamilton Rivers Pollock, Barrister, owner from 1928, of Urchfont Manor.