Education
He was educated at Repton School and Exeter University.
He was educated at Repton School and Exeter University.
He retired on 15 April 2011. He became a Clerk in the House of Lords in 1971. From 1980 to 1983 he was seconded to the Cabinet Office as Private Secretary to the Leader of the House of Lords and the Government Chief Whip, serving two Leaders, Lord Soames and Baroness Young, and one Chief Whip, Lord Denham.
He was Reading Clerk from 1997 to 2003, and Clerk Assistant from 2003 to 2007.
Pownall was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath) in the 2011 Birthday Honours.