Sir Edward Poynings,
STATESMAN,
Was the son of Robert de Poynings of Loveland, who was slain at the siege of Orleans 1447. He was a person much in favour with Kings Henry VII. and Henry VIII., being Governor of Dover Castle, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and Knight of the Garter. By the former of those Kings he was sent to Ireland, where he displayed great courage, firmness, and wisdom, repressing the rebellions of Lord Desmond and Kildare, establishing a Parliament and enacting salutary laws. The now-famous enactment known as "Poynings' Law," by which all legislation in the Irish Parliament was confined to matters first approved by the King and Council in England, was passed in 1494, and continued in force till 1782. By Henry VIII., Sir Henry was made a Privy Counsellor, and appointed Governor of Tournay in Flanders. He died in 1523.
[See "Fuller's Worthies," "Hasted's Kent," and Bagwell's "Ireland under the Tudors."]