John Greenwood, QC (24 July 1800 – 12 February 1871) was an English lawyer and sportsman; he was

Treasury Solicitor The Government Legal Department (previously called the Treasury Solicitor's Department) is the largest in-house legal organisation in the United Kingdom's Government Legal Service. The department is headed by the Treasury Solicitor. This office go ...

from 1866 to his death in 1871, and had played first-class cricket for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1820–21.

Biography

John Greenwood was born in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

and was the third son of William Greenwood (died 1844) of Brookwood Park in

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 ...

; his elder brother was George Greenwood (1799–1875), a

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

and regarded by

Frederic Boase Frederic Boase (7 October 1843 – 23 December 1916) was an English librarian and biographer. Family He was born at Lariggan, Penzance, Cornwall to John Josias Arthur Boase (1801–1896), banker, and his wife, Charlotte née Scholl (1802–1873) ...

as the "best breaker in of horses of his day" whose 1839 book ''Hints on Horsemanship'' was regarded by the same as "the best book on the subject ever done". After

Eton School Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

, John Greenwood went up to

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

, graduating in 1822. He made two first-class appearances for the university cricket team between 1820 and 1821, scoring just two runs in three innings, including two ducks. Gaining a BA as 13th Wrangler in 1822, he became a Fellow of Jesus and was called to the Bar from

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1828. In 1847, he became

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, and in 1848 became a QC and the Recorder of Devonport. He left that office in 1851 to become Assistant Solicitor to the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

, serving until promotion in 1866 to be Solicitor to the Treasury. He remained in that office until his death on 12 February 1871 at 53

Chester Square Chester Square is an elongated residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It was developed by the Grosvenor family, as were the nearby Belgrave and Eaton Square. The square is named after the city of Chester, the city nearest t ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

; the press reported that he had been suffering from an "affection of the throat" and an operation on his larynx to relieve it "drove the inflammation to the brain". He had married in 1835 to Fanny, daughter of William Collyns of Kenton, and had at least two sons. The ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'''s correspondent called him an "able and efficient solicitor ... hodischarged his duties with signal ability". Greenwood's sons included Granville George (1850–1928), an Shakespeare scholar, barrister, animal welfare reformer and politician who was knighted in 1916, and Charles William (1847–1907), a draughtsman and conveyancer; both played first-class cricket."Granville Greenwood"
''

ESPNcricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

''. Retrieved 18 April 2019.

Publications

* ''The Law Journal, a Digest of Cases in the Law Journal and Reports'' (1823). * ''The law of loan societies, established under the statute 3 & 4 Vict. c. 110'', 1846

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, John 1800 births 1871 deaths English cricketers Members of Lincoln's Inn Cambridge University cricketers Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford English King's Counsel 19th-century King's Counsel Treasury Solicitors