George Greenwood

Granville George Greenwood
George Greenwood
Born	(1850-01-03)3 January 1850
Died	27 October 1928(1928-10-27) (aged 78)
Nationality	UK
Occupation	Barrister; Politician; Writer
Years active	1876–1928
Notable work(s)	The Shakespeare Problem Restated

Sir Granville George Greenwood (3 January 1850 – 27 October 1928), usually known as George Greenwood or G. G. Greenwood, was a British lawyer, politician, cricketer, animal welfare reformer and energetic advocate of the Shakespeare authorship question.

Life and work

Born Granville George Greenwood, in Kensington, London, he was the second son of John Greenwood, Q. C. and Fanny Welch. Educated at Eton he was in the "select" for the Newcastle scholarship and then matriculated to Trinity College, Cambridge. As a foundation scholar, he took his degree with a first class in the classical tripos in 1873.^[1] Having been called to the Bar by the Middle Temple 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 in 1886 and Central Hull in 1900. In 1906 he won Peterborough for the Liberal Party and held it till December 1915, when forced by rheumatism 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, 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 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 against Kent, in one of Hampshire's heaviest first-class defeats. Greenwood scored a single run in each innings of the match. His father 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 question, and published many books on the subject. He was a frequent correspondent to The Times, 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 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)
• Shakspere's Handwriting (1920)
• Ben Johnson 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

Other sources

• Who was Who OUP, 2007

External links

• Greenwood biography
• Granville Greenwood at Cricket Archive
• Works of Greenwood on the Shakespearean Authorship Question
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Granville Greenwood
• Portraits of Sir (Granville) George Greenwood at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir Robert Purvis	Member of Parliament for Peterborough 1906 – 1918	Succeeded by Henry Brassey

v t e Shakespeare authorship question (History) A series on alternative authorship theories for the works of William Shakespeare Theories Declaration of Reasonable Doubt Baconian theory Derbyite theory Oxfordian theory Prince Tudor theory Marlovian theory Candidates List of Shakespeare authorship candidates Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Roger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland Christopher Marlowe Sir Henry Neville William Nugent William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby Supporters Joseph C. Hart Delia Bacon Orville Ward Owen James Wilde, 1st Baron Penzance George Greenwood Walt Whitman Mark Twain Henry Albert Seymour Abel Lefranc J. Thomas Looney B. M. Ward Alden Brooks Charlton Greenwood Ogburn Calvin Hoffman Charlton Ogburn Bertram Fields Richard Kennedy Roger Stritmatter Mark Anderson Charles Beauclerk John Orloff

Authority control VIAF: 29257305 GND: 172117674

Persondata
Name	Greenwood, George
Alternative names
Short description	English cricketer
Date of birth	3 January 1850
Place of birth
Date of death	27 October 1928
Place of death