Sir Granville George Greenwood (3 January 1850 – 27 October 1928), usually known as George Greenwood or G. G. Greenwood, was a British lawyer, politician,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er,

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

reformer and energetic advocate of the

Shakespeare authorship question Image:ShakespeareCandidates1.jpg, alt=Portraits of Shakespeare and four proposed alternative authors, Oxford, Bacon, Derby, and Marlowe (clockwise from top left, Shakespeare centre) have each been proposed as the true author. poly 1 1 105 1 1 ...

Life and work

Born Granville George Greenwood, in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, London, he was the second son of John Greenwood, Q. C. and Fanny Welch. Educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

he was in the "select" for the Newcastle scholarship and then matriculated to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. As a foundation scholar, he took his degree with a first-class in the classical

tripos At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...

in 1873. Having been called to the Bar by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1876, he joined the Western Circuit. He married in 1878 Laura, daughter of Dr. Cumberbatch and had one son and three daughters. He contested

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

in 1886 and Central Hull in 1900. In 1906 he won Peterborough for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and held it till December 1915, when forced by

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...

to retire. He was knighted in 1916. He was an ardent supporter of all measures for the protection of animals, and was on the Council of the

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest an ...

, and was President of many similar societies. While he was in Parliament his consistent vigilance and practical knowledge were of great service. He was an outspoken advocate for the independence of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

at a time when the Indian cause lacked effective voices within England. Greenwood was also a cricketer and made a single first-class appearance, for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

against

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, in one of Hampshire's heaviest first-class defeats. Greenwood scored a single run in each innings of the match. His father John Greenwood and brother, Charles Greenwood, had equally brief first-class careers.

Shakespeare authorship

Greenwood was also one of the most persistent and effective fighters in the

Shakespeare authorship Image:ShakespeareCandidates1.jpg, alt=Portraits of Shakespeare and four proposed alternative authors, Oxford, Bacon, Derby, and Marlowe (clockwise from top left, Shakespeare centre) have each been proposed as the true author. poly 1 1 105 1 ...

question, and published many books on the subject. He was a frequent correspondent to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', both on Shakespearean subjects and on the protection of animals. Greenwood is the author of twelve books and numerous articles on the authorship question, all published 1908–1924. A prolific and entertaining writer, he engaged in a series of well-known public debates, carried on in books and in public forums of exchange such as newspapers and literary journals, with Sir Sidney Lee, the leading Shakespearean biographer of his generation. Although the most effective anti-Stratfordian of the early decades of the 20th century, Greenwood refused to endorse an alternative author of the Shakespearean canon, preferring instead to remain agnostic on the identity of the author while steadfastly maintaining that the traditional view of authorship was ultimately indefensible. In 1922 he joined with J. Thomas Looney to establish The Shakespeare Fellowship, the organisation which subsequently carried forward public discussion of the authorship question up to the 1940s.

Publications

His major publications include:
''The Faith of an Agnostic''
(1902) * ''The Shakespeare Problem Restated'' (1908) * ''In re Shakespeare: Beeching vs Greenwood'' (1909) * ''The Vindicators of Shakespeare'' (1911) * ''Is There a Shakespeare Problem?'' (1916) * ''Letters to The Nation and the Literary Guide'' (1915–1916) * ''Shakespeare's Law and Latin'' (1916) * ''Shakespeare's Law'' (1920) * ''Shakespeare's Handwriting'' (1920) * ''Ben Jonson and Shakespeare'' (1921) * ''Baconian Essays'' (Introduction and two essays) (1922) * ''Lee, Shakespeare and a Tertium Quid'' (1923) * ''Shakespeare's Signature and "Sir Thomas More"'' (1924) * ''The Stratford Bust and the Droeshout Engraving'' (1925)

References

Sources

*''Who was Who'' OUP, 2007

External links

* *

at Cricket Archive
Works of Greenwood on the Shakespearean Authorship Question
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, George 1850 births 1928 deaths Animal welfare workers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English activists English cricketers English environmentalists English male dramatists and playwrights English male poets English non-fiction writers Knights Bachelor Literary critics of English Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Hampshire cricketers Shakespeare authorship theorists UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 People educated at Eton College English barristers