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Sir Paul Pindar (1565–1650) was a English merchant and, from 1611 to 1620, was Ambassador of King James I of England to the Ottoman Empire.
Born in Wellingborough and educated at Wellingborough School Pindar entered trade as the apprentice to an Italian merchant in London. He later became involved in trade to the Ottoman Empire, first as secretary to the English ambassador in Constantinople Henry Lello and eventually becoming ambassador himself. Pindar was present when the famous gift of an organ was made to the royal household by Ambassador Lello and he went on to become a favorite of Safiye Sultan the powerful mother of Sultan Mehmet III.
Paul Pindar in 1632[]
Sir Paul Pindar and Endymion Porter conspired with Richard Boyle, the Earl of Cork to overthrow Prime Minister Thomas Wentworth by arranging a confrontation between members of London's Trained Bands and King Charles I and his wife Henrietta Maria while the king and queen were traveling to Oxford. Pindar and his cohorts witnessed the events from Tyburn Hill. As they were getting ready to leave, thinking the confrontation was over, Pindar noticed that the royal carriage was out of control. When he, Boyle, and Porter arrived at the scene of accident and learned that the king's was badly injured and the queen was dead, he suggested that Captain Anthony Leebrick and his officers should disappear for a while.
As part of the plan, Pindar had also arranged for Wentworth to receive false information about the king's location, knowing that Wentworth would be likely to investigate personally, which would ensure that he would be out of Whitehall while Boyle took control.
After Boyle became Prime Minister as a result of this incident, Pindar remained his adjutant.