Anthony Poyntz

Sir Anthony Poyntz (1480? – 1532) was an English diplomat and naval commander.

Arms of Poyntz: Barry of eight or and gules

Life

In 1507/8 he served as High Sheriff of Gloucestershire.^[1] He was knighted in 1513, when he commanded a ship in Thomas Howard's expedition against France.^[2] In September 1518 he was sent on an embassy to the French king, and was present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in July 1520.^[3] One of his daughters was a lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.^[4]

His father died in November and he inherited Iron Acton, which his family had held since mid-14th century.^[5] In 1521 he was one of the jury at Bristol before whom Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham was indicted.^[6]

In 1522 he joined in the expedition to France of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk in command of the Santa Maria.^[7] In the following year he became vice-admiral, and was employed in command of some twelve or fourteen sail in preventing the return of John Stewart, Duke of Albany to Scotland.^[7] In 1522/3 and 1527/8 he again served as High Sheriff of Gloucestershire.^[1] In 1529 he was a witness in the proceedings for the divorce of Catherine of Aragon^[6] and in 1530 was on a commission to inquire into Thomas Wolsey's possessions.^[7]

He died in late 1532.^[8]

Family

He was the son of Sir Robert Poyntz, and Margaret Woodville, an illegitimate daughter of Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers.^[9]

He married by 1510 Elizabeth Huddesfield, daughter of Sir William Huddesfield (d.1499), of Shillingford St George, Devon, Attorney-General to King Edward IV and his wife Katherine, daughter of Sir Philip Courtenay of Powderham Castle, Devon:^[10]

• Sir Nicholas Poyntz
• Margaret married Sir John Newton of Barrs Court, Gloucestershire and East Harptree, Somerset^[10]
• Mary married Sir Edward Gorges of Wraxall, Somerset^[10]

After Elizabeth's death he married Joan, widow of Sir Richard Guilford.^[1]

Notes

1. Maclean 1886, p. 95.
2. Maclean, Sir John (1886). Historical and genealogical memoir of the family of Poyntz. Vol. 1. p. 67.
3. Maclean 1886, p. 66.
4. Rutland Papers (London: Camden, 1842), pp. 32, 38
5. Rudder, Samuel (2006). A New History of Gloucestershire. Nonsuch. p. 214.
6. Maclean 1886, p. 68.
7. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). "Poyntz, Francis § Sir Anthony Poyntz" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 46. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
8. "East Sussex Archive:SAS/G21/22". Retrieved 5 January 2024.
9. Maclean, Sir John & Heane, W.C., (Eds.), The Visitation of the County of Gloucester Taken in the Year 1623 by Henry Chitty and John Phillipot as Deputies to William Camden Clarenceux King of Arms, etc, London, 1885, p.129, pedigree of Poyntz
10. Maclean 1886, p. 69.