John Greene Sr (abt. 1448 - abt. 1528)

Born about 1448 in Bowridge Hill, Gillingham, Dorset, England

Descendants

Died about 1528 at about age 80 in Arlesey, Bedfordshire, England [uncertain]

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Biography

During the Wars of the Roses, 1455 to 1485, the Greenes were the faithful adherents of the House of York. The Yorkist king, Richard III, was one of the worst kings of England but the Greenes remained loyal to him because he represented the Yorkist House. In 1487 Richard III was slain in battle, and Henry, the head of the House of Lancaster, came to the throne after marrying Elizabeth, heiress of the House of York, thus ending the Wars of the Roses. Henry VII held a grudge against the House of Greene as one of the supporters of the Yorkists, imprisoning the old Sir Thomas Greene on the charge of plotting treason.

John was the top sword of England. He had to go to Europe to escape the wrath of King Henry VII. John ventured back to an English city in which he was a stranger and was occasionally able to visit his family. During this time he took the name of John Clarke. He became reckless and was drawn into a bout with swords; due to his prowess with swords, he was identified and he fled again; he did not return until the death of King Henry VII.

More and Vergil say that when Richard arrived at Gloucester he sent for a man called John Green 'whom he specially trusted.' John Green can be traced; he had been employed, in various capacities, by Richard when he was Duke of Gloucester, . . . He may well have been the same John Green who is recorded in the CALENDAR OF PATENT ROLLS for 1474-5 as working in Edward IV's household. On 30th July 1483, John Green signed a warrant appointing one John Gregory to take hay, oats, horsebread, beans, peas and litter for all expenses of the King's horses and litters for a period of six months.

He was the next-to-oldest son and was a man of prominence in his day. John was the father of Robert of Langham, Jeremy of Gillingham and Henry, who died suddenly on 22 Aug 1578.

The King, says More, sent Green 'unto Sir Robert Brackenbury, Constable of the Tower, with a letter and credence that the same Sir Robert should in any wise put the two children to death.' It has been argued that Richard III would never have committed such an order to paper, but it is nevertheless plausible that he did so. His letter. . . is likely to have been discreetly worded so as not to compromise himself. Green was to supply the 'credence,' the unwritten, explicit details, to Brackenbury, and both were men trusted implicitly by Richard.

Continues More: 'This John Green did his errand unto Brackenbury.' But Brackenbury was not the stuff of which murderers are made. Vergil says he feared the consequences to his own reputation and safety should his complicity in what More calls 'so mean and bestial a deed' ever be made public. In Green's presence, he knelt 'before Our Lady in the Tower' and 'plainly answered that he would never put (the Princes) to death, though he should die therefore.' pp. 147-8

The King remained at Warwick until 15th August, when he went to Coventry. More states that John Green, returning from the Tower, recounted Brackenbury's refusal to comply with the order to kill the Princes 'to King Richard at Warwick.' p. 150

. . . With Tyrell rode a man whom More describes as Sir James' 'own horse keeper, a big, broad, square, strong knave' called John Dighton. As a groom he may well have known John Green, who helped look after the royal horses. pp. 156-7

. . . As for those others, who assisted Tyrell with the murder of the Princes, Forrest and Green both received grants from the King late in 1483, and Green was appointed to several offices: Receiver of the Isle of Wight and overseer of the Port of Southampton on 14th December 1483, and Escheator of Southampton in December 1484. On 20th September 1483 the King granted him a general pardon for all offences, and in order to avoid questions being asked about his activities, his neighbors in Warwickshire were all granted one too. Such pardons were not unusual during the aftermath of conspiracies." p. 160

There is another reference to this John Greene in the book, WITTER GENEALOGY, written by Georgia Cooper Washburn published in New York 1929 on page 249:

"JOHN GREENE, son of the foregoing, was sent, in 1483, by King Richard III as a messenger bearing a letter from the King to Sir Robert Brackenbury who was then the keeper of the Tower of London. In this letter the King gave orders that his two nephews, "the little Princes in the Tower," should be put to death. Although this iniquitous command was later obeyed by another governor of the Tower, Sir Robert refused to commit murder at his sovereign's behest, and sent his message of refusal back to the King by John Greene. It is a tradition that when King Henry VII came to the throne he bore enmity to this John Greene because he had played (only) the part of a messenger for Richard III in the latter's wicked designs, and that John Greene fled from England lest he be captured by the King. It is said that "John the Fugitive" returned to England and for safety assumed the name of John Clarke. . . Despite his change of name, the identity of John Greene, the Fugitive was discovered, and he again fled from England, his further history being unknown." *The ancestor of John Greene of Quidnesset.

Sources

• La Mance, Lora S., The Greene Family and Its Branches from A.D. 861 to A.D. 1904 (Mayflower Pub. Co., Floral Park, N.Y., 1904) Page 34.
• Gaylord Green, Green/Greene Genealogy, Vol 13
• Red Bird Acres: Greene History
• Families Directly Descended from all the Royal Families in Europe, pg 77
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:3320338&id=I2153