Hugh Stainton Poyntz (17 September 1877 – 22 June 1955) was a career soldier who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

between 1904 and 1921. He also played three matches for

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

in 1912–13. He was born at

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

and died at Harestock, Hampshire.

Family and background

Poyntz was the sixth child and second son of a military family. His father was a major in the

Royal Marines Light Infantry The history of the Royal Marines began on 28 October 1664 with the formation of the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot soon becoming known as the Admiral's Regiment. During the War of the Spanish Succession the most historic achi ...

who later became the Chief Constable of Essex. His younger brother was Massey Poyntz, who captained Somerset at cricket in 1913 and 1914.

Military career

Hugh Poyntz was educated at

Eastbourne College Eastbourne College is a co-educational independent school in the British public school tradition, for day and boarding pupils aged 13–18, in the town of Eastbourne on the south coast of England. The College's headmaster is Tom Lawson. Over ...

and went straight from there into the Army, joining the third battalion of the

Sherwood Foresters The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for just under 90 years, from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Worcestershire Regiment to f ...

(the battalion was the former Derbyshire Regiment) in 1896. In 1899 he transferred to the

Bedfordshire Regiment The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a Line infantry, line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many conflicts and wars, including both the World War ...

, where his elder brother Henry was also an officer. He was to remain as a serving officer for 37 years until his retirement in 1936. Poyntz saw service in the Boer War and in April 1900 was promoted from second lieutenant to be a full lieutenant. He was further promoted to captain in 1907. By the time of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Poyntz was already a major and he was promoted to be a temporary lieutenant-colonel in November 1915. This promotion lasted only until January 1916. There were further temporary promotions in 1917 and 1918 until Poyntz became a full lieutenant-colonel at the beginning of 1921. By this time, he had been awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

and had been mentioned twice in dispatches. Towards the end of the First World War, Poyntz was appointed to be in charge of an officer cadets' battalion and when the war was over he was appointed to the newly formed Royal Army Educational Corps. He spent the final decade of his military career as the Master of the

Duke of York's Royal Military School The Duke of York's Royal Military School, more commonly called the Duke of York's, is a co-educational academy (for students aged 11 to 18) with military traditions in Guston, Kent. Since becoming an academy in 2010, the school is now sponsor ...

, a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

for the sons and daughters of military families at

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, with the title of "Commandant". When he retired from this and from the Army in 1936, he was awarded the

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

Sporting career

Poyntz played a few first-class cricket matches for Somerset in each season from 1904 to 1910 as a middle- or lower-order batsman. In his third match in 1904, against

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

at Beckenham, he top-scored in both Somerset innings with 85 in the first and 48 in the second: the 85 would remain his highest first-class score. The following season, 1905, he made an unbeaten 50 in a drawn match against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. And, elevated to No 3 in the batting order, he made 80 in a rain-ruined match against

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. There were no other scores of more than 50 in his other games for Somerset, and he did not appear for the county in the 1911, 1912 or 1913 seasons. In the South African 1912–13 season, Poyntz played three times for the Orange Free State team, captaining the team in Currie Cup matches. As captain, he put himself on to bowl

leg-break Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery causes the ball to spin from right to left (from the bowler's perspective) when the ball bounces on the ...

s, and took three for 37 in the first innings he bowled in, and five wickets in the three games: these were his only first-class wickets. He returned to Somerset for two matches in 1914 and a single game in 1921. Poyntz was also an association football player and was captain of the Army soccer team in 1907.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poyntz, Hugh 1877 births 1955 deaths English cricketers Somerset cricketers Free State cricketers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Officers of the Order of the British Empire British Army personnel of World War I Sherwood Foresters officers Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Royal Army Educational Corps officers Military personnel from Nottingham Cricketers from Nottingham