Sir Amias Paulet (1532–1588) was a prominent Elizabethan statesman, diplomat, and courtier whose life bridged the quiet lanes of Devon and the high drama of Tudor politics. His family, the Paulets (or Pouletts), held the manor of Sampford Peverell for over three centuries, leaving a lasting imprint on the parish church of St John the Baptist. Yet Paulet himself is best remembered as the final custodian of Mary Queen of Scots, present at her execution in 1587.
Paulet was born into a distinguished lineage, the son of Sir Hugh Paulet, Governor of Jersey, and Philippa Pollard of Devon. Though his principal seat was at Hinton St George in Somerset, the Paulets maintained estates in Sampford Peverell. Their presence is still marked in the church, where Lady Margaret Poulett, wife of Sir Amias, was buried in 1606. Her monument, erected by her descendant the 5th Earl Poulett, includes a Latin epitaph and engraved figures of her children kneeling in prayer. A brass plate nearby commemorates her as the widow of “the celebrated Sir Amies Poulett, Knight, Ambassador from Queen Elizabeth to France, and principal keeper of Mary Queen of Scots during her captivity in England.”
In February 1587, Paulet oversaw the final days of Mary Queen of Scots at Fotheringhay Castle. A contemporary eyewitness, Robert Beale, Clerk of the Privy Council, produced a detailed drawing of the execution. Paulet is depicted as figure number 3 — seated below the dais, stern and watchful, ensuring the proceedings were carried out with authority. The illustration remains one of the most iconic visual records of Tudor justice, capturing Paulet’s role as both enforcer and witness to one of the most dramatic moments of Elizabethan England.
Though Paulet died in London and was buried at Hinton St George, his family’s connection to Sampford Peverell endured. The Poulett monuments in St John the Baptist Church link the village to the wider currents of Tudor politics, reminding visitors that the manor’s lords were not only local patrons but also figures at the very centre of national events. In stone and in ink, Paulet’s legacy is preserved: a brass plate in a Devon church, and a numbered figure in a drawing of a queen’s death.
