John Green 

Im 7048:D/DC 1280.

The House of Greene

the Junglern

The figure of John Greene, the absentee warrior head of the Greene family, as he appears on the family pedigree.

An allegorical picture, a Chaucerian tale, knights in armour and a speaker in the House of Commons are all featured in one of the latest and most beautiful donations to the Record office collec- tions, an illuminated pedigree of the Greene family of Gosfield, Little Samp- ford and Widdington. Compiled about 1589, at a time when many major land owners were commissioning heraldic painters to draw up elaborate family trees, this document now joins a number of other important pedigrees for Essex families in the office.

This new document traces the descendants of John and Agnes Greene of Widdington from 1400, celebrating in colourful de- tail 'the line of the Worshipfull famylye of the Greenes which hath bine since the time of Edward the Thirde Anno Do. who cominge out of Cheshire gentle- men of greate worshipp hath continued in the countie of Essex with no lesse creditt until... 1589'. The names of the descendants are given in coloured circles interspersed with heraldic shields. Two more elaborate coats of aras are illuminated at the foot of the document while in the top right-hand corner an emblematic cartouche shows reeds bending in a turbulent river with a city on either bank illustrating the motto 'fleximur non frangimur undis'..

Three members of the Greene family are given particular prominence at the head of the pedigree with full figure illus- trations and descriptive accounts. John Greene genfield

John

and gen

contraved

man whose judgment in both the lawes was of singuler perfection'. He was Speaker of the House of Commons and can probably be identified with John Greene the Speaker who died in 1473 (not 1443 as the pedigree suggests).

William Greene, the second son of John Greene, is praised for his 'vertuouse. life' and for his worthiness in greatly increasing the patrimony of his house, recently depleted by the division of the family inheritance between the three daughters of his elder brother.

The most memorable figure, however, is John Greene, son and heir of William and grandson to the original John Greene of Widdington. He is depicted armed and mounted, ready for battle and is described as being addicted more to martial discipline in foreign nations than to living idly at home, choosing rather to follow the profession of a soldier than to smother his memorable name in the bosome of oblivion'. Sa prolonged, indeed, were his military absences abroad that, at one point, only the fortuitous and long-delayed return of her prodigal son stopped his pious mother from handing over the estate to charitable ends. The deeds were des- troyed in the nick of time.

With these stories and other genealogi- cal details this pedigree helps to fill many gaps in our knowledge of a signi- ficant Essex family whose later history is described in the late Gerald Curtis's The Story of the Sampfords. culminating

the

In een verh Edvart

Im 7048:D/DC 1280.

The House of Greene

the Junglern

The figure of John Greene, the absentee warrior head of the Greene family, as he appears on the family pedigree.

An allegorical picture, a Chaucerian tale, knights in armour and a speaker in the House of Commons are all featured in one of the latest and most beautiful donations to the Record office collec- tions, an illuminated pedigree of the Greene family of Gosfield, Little Samp- ford and Widdington. Compiled about 1589, at a time when many major land owners were commissioning heraldic painters to draw up elaborate family trees, this document now joins a number of other important pedigrees for Essex families in the office.

This new document traces the descendants of John and Agnes Greene of Widdington from 1400, celebrating in colourful de- tail 'the line of the Worshipfull famylye of the Greenes which hath bine since the time of Edward the Thirde Anno Do. who cominge out of Cheshire gentle- men of greate worshipp hath continued in the countie of Essex with no lesse creditt until... 1589'. The names of the descendants are given in coloured circles interspersed with heraldic shields. Two more elaborate coats of aras are illuminated at the foot of the document while in the top right-hand corner an emblematic cartouche shows reeds bending in a turbulent river with a city on either bank illustrating the motto 'fleximur non frangimur undis'..

Three members of the Greene family are given particular prominence at the head of the pedigree with full figure illus- trations and descriptive accounts. John Greene genfield

John

and gen

contraved

man whose judgment in both the lawes was of singuler perfection'. He was Speaker of the House of Commons and can probably be identified with John Greene the Speaker who died in 1473 (not 1443 as the pedigree suggests).

William Greene, the second son of John Greene, is praised for his 'vertuouse. life' and for his worthiness in greatly increasing the patrimony of his house, recently depleted by the division of the family inheritance between the three daughters of his elder brother.

The most memorable figure, however, is John Greene, son and heir of William and grandson to the original John Greene of Widdington. He is depicted armed and mounted, ready for battle and is described as being addicted more to martial discipline in foreign nations than to living idly at home, choosing rather to follow the profession of a soldier than to smother his memorable name in the bosome of oblivion'. Sa prolonged, indeed, were his military absences abroad that, at one point, only the fortuitous and long-delayed return of her prodigal son stopped his pious mother from handing over the estate to charitable ends. The deeds were des- troyed in the nick of time.

With these stories and other genealogi- cal details this pedigree helps to fill many gaps in our knowledge of a signi- ficant Essex family whose later history is described in the late Gerald Curtis's The Story of the Sampfords. culminating

the

In een verh Edvart