Thomas Poynings, 1st Baron Poynings
Thomas Poynings, 1st Baron Poynings (c. 1512 – 17 August 1545) was an English soldier and courtier. He was one of seven illegitimate children of Sir Edward Poynings of Westenhanger, Kent. His mother was probably Rose Whethill, who received an annuity in Sir Edward’s will. He had two brothers and four sisters, including Jane (or Joan) Poynings, who married Thomas Clinton and later Sir Robert Wingfield.
Through his wife Katherine Marney he acquired land in the west country, and he added land in Wiltshire, Cornwall and Somerset, even exchanging Westenhanger for monastic lands in Dorset, including Bindon Abbey. In the 1540s he served King Henry VIII as Marshal of Calais and keeper of the castle at Guînes, and he took an active part in the 1544 invasion of France, notably at Montreuil and during the sieges of Boulogne.
On 30 January 1545 he was created Baron Poynings and named Lieutenant of Boulogne. He died of dysentery at Boulogne on 17 August 1545. He had married Katherine Marney, the elder daughter and co-heir of John Marney, 2nd Baron Marney, and widow of George Radcliffe; they had one son, who was baptized in March 1539 but died in infancy.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:36 (CET).