POYNTZ, Matthew (aft.1528-1605), of Alderley, Glos.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. aft. 1528, 2nd s. of John Poyntz of Alderley by Elizabeth, da. of Sir Matthew Brown of Betchworth Castle, Surr. m. (1) 1554, Winifred (d.1578), da. and coh. of William Wild of Camberwell, Surr., 6s. 7da.; (2) Elizabeth Ingler, prob. wid. of one Culpepper alias Crew. suc. fa. 1544.

Offices Held

J.p. Glos. from c.1573, commr. musters 1577.

Biography

Poyntz was a descendant of the barons of that name who lived in Gloucestershire for many years and took part in the Welsh and Scottish wars of Edward I. His elder brother Henry, an imbecile, was 16 years old in 1544. His younger brother, Robert, was born about 1535. In a letter written to Burghley between 1572 and 1598, Poyntz was included in a list of gentlemen of good standing in Gloucestershire. How he obtained his seat in Parliament for Wootton Bassett has not been ascertained. He was returned there at a by-election in 1563 to replace John Hippisley, who had preferred to sit for Wells. About the year 1591 he seems to have possessed a considerable amount of land in the neighbourhood of Calne. One John Poyntz, perhaps his father, had sat for Devizes in the Parliament of 1529. Poyntz died between 12 Aug. and 19 Nov. 1605. In his will, dated 15 June, he asked to be buried in the churchyard of Alderley near the grave of Mr. John Stanton, who, after having been exiled for his religion, had preached in the parish from 1558 till his death in 1579. He left all his instruments and books to Edward Norris, a student of Magdalen Hall, Oxford, except Foxe’s Acts and Monuments, which he bequeathed to the parish of Alderley. He charged Sir Nicholas Poyntz, his eldest son and heir, and his sons-in-law to uphold the preaching of the Gospel. He left 20s. to the poor of the parishes of Hawksbury, Wootton and Kingswood, and 10s. to the poor of Alderley. He appears to have been an adviser on the property of recusants in Gloucestershire in 1577. His younger brother, Robert Poyntz (fl. 1566), was a well-known Catholic divine.

J. Maclean, Hist. Fam. Poyntz, i. passim; Vis. Glos. (Harl. Soc. xxi), 100, 134-6; Vis. Surr. (Harl. Soc. xliii), 169; Bristol and Glos. Arch. Soc. Trans. v. 232; DNB (Poyntz, Sir Francis, d.1528); Lansd. 104, ff. 100 seq.; CSP Dom. Add. 1580-1625, p. 331.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: S. T. Bindoff

Notes

  • 1. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.