# Robert Pointz > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Pointz > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Pointz.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pointz > Source revision: 1275194322 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|English landowner and politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}} {{Use British English|date=November 2016}} '''Sir Robert Pointz''' or '''Poyntz''' (1588–1665) was an English landowner and politician. He sat in the [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_England) for [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire_(UK_Parliament_constituency)), between 1626 and 1629.{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/poyntz-sir-robert-1588-1665|title=''Poyntz, Sir Robert (1588–1665), of Iron Acton, Glos.'', History of Parliament Online|access-date=24 February 2016}} ==Life== thumb|150px|Church of St James the Less, Iron Acton Pointz was the son of [Sir John Poyntz](/source/Sir_John_Poyntz), Lord of the [Manor of Iron Acton](/source/Manor_of_Iron_Acton), [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire), and his second wife Elizabeth Sydenham, daughter of Anthony Sydenham. He matriculated from [Brasenose College, Oxford](/source/Brasenose_College%2C_Oxford) on 15 March 1605, aged 16. He had already in 1604 made a teenage marriage to Frances Gibbons, daughter of his stepmother Grissell Roberts by her first husband Gervase Gibbons. Frances brought him a comfortable [inheritance](/source/inheritance) which made him financially independent of his father, who was notorious for improvidence and died penniless. As so often in that age, however, a dispute over the Gibbons inheritance led to a [lawsuit](/source/lawsuit), which dragged on into the late 1630s. In the last stages of the litigation Robert, though generally regarded as a "sober and learned man", became so irritated that he insulted one of the judges, and as a result, was briefly committed to the [Fleet Prison](/source/Fleet_Prison). Apart from his father's insolvency, the principal threat to his political career was his family's traditional attachment to the [Roman Catholic](/source/Roman_Catholic) faith. Robert himself was a zealous [Protestant](/source/Protestant), but his sister [Elizabeth, Lady Thurles](/source/Elizabeth%2C_Lady_Thurles), mother of the first Duke of Ormond, was a prominent [recusant](/source/recusant). In 1624 he stood unsuccessfully for Parliament as member for Gloucestershire and petitioned to be declared validly elected, also unsuccessfully. He was made a [Knight of the Bath](/source/Knight_of_the_Bath) on 2 February 1626, at the coronation of [Charles I](/source/Charles_I_of_England). In 1626 he was elected [knight of the shire](/source/knight_of_the_shire) for [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire_(UK_Parliament_constituency)). He was re-elected MP for Gloucestershire in 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. He was [High Sheriff of Gloucestershire](/source/High_Sheriff_of_Gloucestershire) in 1637.[https://archive.org/stream/cu31924030494953#page/n63/mode/2up#page/n59/mode/2up W R Williams Parliamentary ] of the County of Gloucester In the [English Civil War](/source/English_Civil_War) Pointz visited [Bristol](/source/Bristol) when it was a garrison for the King and later was called to account as a delinquent [Royalist](/source/Royalist). On 15 March 1649, he begged to compound for delinquency, claiming that in going there, he "Never bore arms, nor contributed to the maintenance of the war against Parliament". He was fined £748 on 26 April, which was corrected after an error to £723. On 1 September 1651, he was assessed at £200, and on 10 April 1652, a request was made on his behalf for discharge from assessment on the Act of Parliament, which was granted on 13 April. In 1661 Pointz wrote a "Vindication of Monarchy". Pointz died in 1665, and was buried at [Iron Acton](/source/Iron_Acton), on 10 November. ==Family== Pointz married firstly Frances Gibbons (died 1638), daughter of Gervase Gibbons of [Kent](/source/Kent) and his wife Grissell Roberts (who was to become Robert's own stepmother), and secondly Cicely Smith of Acton. He had two daughters, Margaret (died 1685) and Grissell (born 1608), by his first wife, and one son John by his second. Margaret married Sir Richard Hastings, first and last of the [Hastings baronets](/source/Hastings_baronets). After Sir Richard's death, she remarried [Samuel Gorges](/source/Samuel_Gorges). Gorges had a successful career as a judge in Ireland, no doubt largely due to the fact that the [Lord Lieutenant of Ireland](/source/Lord_Lieutenant_of_Ireland), [James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond](/source/James_Butler%2C_1st_Duke_of_Ormond), through his mother Elizabeth Pointz, was Margaret's first cousin. However, he died almost penniless. Her sister Grissell married Richard Porter. Their brother John died in 1680 without issue. Like his grandfather, he died heavily in debt. ==References== {{Reflist}} {{s-start}} {{s-par|en}} {{s-bef | before= [Sir Maurice Berkeley](/source/Maurice_Berkeley_(Gloucestershire_MP)) | before2= [John Dutton](/source/John_Dutton_(Gloucestershire_MP)) }} {{s-ttl | title=[Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament) for [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | with= [Sir Robert Tracy](/source/Robert_Tracy%2C_2nd_Viscount_Tracy) | with2= [Nathaniel Stephens](/source/Nathaniel_Stephens) | years= 1626–1829 }} {{s-non| reason= [Parliament suspended until 1640](/source/Personal_Rule)}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Pointz, Robert}} Category:1588 births Category:1665 deaths Category:People from South Gloucestershire District Category:Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Category:High sheriffs of Gloucestershire Category:Knights of the Bath Category:English landowners Category:English MPs 1626 Category:English MPs 1628–1629 Category:Politicians from Gloucestershire --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Robert Pointz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pointz) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pointz?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.