John Poyer
{{About|the Welsh soldier|the governor of American Samoa|John Martin Poyer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}
John Poyer (died 25 April 1649) was a Welsh soldier in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War in South Wales. He later turned against the parliamentary cause and was executed for treason.
Background
Poyer was a merchant and the mayor of Pembroke town in 1642, when he asked the local MP, Sir Hugh Owen of Orielton, for help in the defence of the county. He became Governor of Pembroke Castle and raised a force on behalf of Parliament, defending the castle against the Royalist commander, Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery.{{cite DWB|id=s-POYE-JOH-1649|title=Poyer, John (died 1649), mayor of Pembroke|author=James Frederick Rees|access-date=17 March 2021}}
Rebellion
In March 1644 Poyer led a force that captured Carew Castle from the Royalists. When, in 1647, he was commanded to disband his army and surrender Pembroke Castle, he refused to do so on the grounds that he was owed money. In April 1648 he was contacted by the Prince of Wales and, with the support of other local Parliamentary commanders, Rowland Laugharne and Rice Powell, he joined a Royalist rebellion, culminating in the Battle of St Fagans.
The remaining forces, besieged by Oliver Cromwell himself at Pembroke, surrendered on 11 July 1648, and Poyer, Laugharne and Powell were condemned to death. It was agreed that only one would face the firing squad, and the three men drew lots.{{cite book|author=Willard Connely|title=Beau Nash: Monarch of Bath and Tunbridge Wells|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GStIAAAAMAAJ|year=1955|publisher=Laurie|isbn=978-7-270-01055-7|page=2}} The lots would be drawn by a child, and Poyer was the loser. The child is said to have asked him "Did I do well?" Poyer to have responded "Yes, you have done very well".{{cite book|author=Brian John|title=Pembrokeshire Folk Tales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tC_aAAAAMAAJ|year=1991|publisher=Greencroft|isbn=978-0-905559-59-9|page=32}} He was executed at Covent Garden, London.
Following Poyer's capture, his widow, Elizabeth, was given assistance by Madam Langhorne, the wife of a former opponent.{{cite book|title=Calendar of State Papers, Preserved in the State Paper Department of Her Majesty's Public Record Office: Domestic series|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kn9WAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA587|year=1891|publisher=Longman|pages=587}} Following the Restoration of the monarchy, his widow was paid a pension of £300 a year by King Charles II of England.{{cite book|title=Calendar of Treasury Books, ... Preserved in the Public Record Office|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82dGAQAAMAAJ|year=1904|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office}}
References
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Category:People from Pembroke, Pembrokeshire
Category:Royalist military personnel of the English Civil War
Category:Executed Welsh people
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:Mayors of places in Wales
Category:Parliamentarian military personnel of the English Civil War
Category:People executed under the Interregnum (England) for treason against England
Category:People executed under the Interregnum (England) by firing squad