Pownall was born in Warwick, Warwickshire, the son of civil engineer Charles Assheton Whately Pownall and Dora Bourne Royds. He was the grandson of the Ven. Assheton Pownall, Archdeacon of Leicester. Pownall was educated at Rugby School.[1]
Pownall was noted for his arduous work on committees.[1] Pownall was knighted in the 1926 Birthday Honours, for political and public services.[3]
During the late 1930s, Pownall was a member of the Anglo-German Fellowship.[4] He belonged to the moderate tendency within the Fellowship, stating that it existed "only to promote good relations between us and Germany" and was in no way in favour of Nazism.[5]
References
^ abcd"Lt.-Col. Sir Assheton Pownall". The Times. 31 October 1953. p. 8.