POOLE, Sir Neville (c.1592-1661), of Poole Keynes, Wilts.

Poole was named after his mother’s family but showed no inclination to adopt their religion. The estate of Poole Keynes was settled on him at his marriage. Returned for Malmesbury on the family interest in 1614, he thereafter sat for one or other neighbouring boroughs whenever his father was representing the county. In the Addled Parliament he was named only to the committee for a Gloucestershire Catholic’s estate bill (9 May). Procs. 1614 (Commons), 175. Between 1616 and 1619 the Wiltshire bench was riven with faction fighting over which town should host the midsummer sessions, during which time Poole dutifully supported his father, who favoured Devizes. A. Wall, ‘Faction in Local Politics 1580-1620’, Wilts. Arch. Mag. lxxii. 128. His father sat for Malmesbury in 1621, and Poole did not sit again until 1624, when he was returned for Cricklade. He was named to three private bill committees in the last Jacobean Parliament, including one promoted by his father’s old enemies, the Seymours (10 March). CJ, i. 681a, 688a, 755b. Neither Poole nor his father sat in the first Caroline Parliament, but in 1626 Sir Henry was again returned for Wiltshire, and Poole replaced his brother-in-law, Henry Poole, at Cirencester, four miles from Poole Keynes. On 18 Apr. he was added to the committee for considering a bill to empower his kinsman Sir Thomas Neville to make a jointure for his wife.Procs. 1626, iii. 14. He made no recorded speeches in Parliament but by the autumn of 1626 he had been removed from the bench, suggesting that he had supported the impeachment of Buckingham.

As a Ship Money sheriff, Poole was over £2,000 in arrears with his collections, CSP Dom. 1637, pp. 122, 574; 1638-9, p. 369; 1639, p. 246; and in 1639 he refused to contribute to the expenses of the war against the Scots. Historical Collections ed. J. Rushworth, iii. 915; Returned for Malmesbury at both elections in 1640 he favoured episcopacy but supported Parliament in the Civil War. M.F. Keeler, Long Parl. He made his will on 24 Jan. 1654, and presumably died shortly before 29 June 1661, when it was proved. PROB 11/304, f. 349. He was buried in the parish church of Oaksey in Wiltshire. J. Aubrey, Wilts. ed. J.E. Jackson, 277. His elder son Edward had joined him in the Long Parliament as Member for Wootton Bassett, and sat for three other Wiltshire boroughs until his death in 1673, the last of the family to sit in Parliament.