John Green of Blisworth (1843-1918)
John Green, Cobbler, Composer, Poet and Calligrapher
John Green of Blisworth (1843-1918)
For a contemporary interpretation of
John Green's work in illuminating extracts from
the Bible please click on the book in his right hand in the picture above.
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George Freeston's scrapbook, which he assembled in 1953, includes a reference to a village cobbler by the name of John Green. Page 45 of the scrapbook carries a photograph of him, copied above, and a little booklet of religious music and verse which he had written and entitled "No. 18 One-only-One". This is just one of 20 sacred songs that were composed and delightfully hand written in around 1877 in a plain notebook. No. 18 was removed as a bound fold of pages from the notebook at some stage. From George's notes we know that he lived at the house now numbered 20 Stoke Road and worked as a cobbler in the shed attached to the gable-end of the house. The shed was replaced shortly after WWII with a small yard and door but they gave way to a flat-roofed study and bathroom area built by the present occupiers. There is nothing left of Green's cobbling-shed but a mark on the wall in one old photograph. Nothing more of John Green emerged from the collections at the NRO deposited by Freeston executors.
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Through contacts made at Collingtree however, there appeared in the summer of 2007 a John Green (J. J. Green) who knew that his family came from Blisworth. He had a few photos and documents handed down to him from his father and a book of illuminated prayers which the Blisworth John Green had crafted just prior to WWI. J. J. Green also possessed the music notebook mentioned above. This prayer book was proof of the assertion by George that John Green was an extremely talented calligrapher and graphic designer. George knew this because he had 'borrowed' the illuminated book from J. J. Green's father and we are told that it took quite some 'one-on-one pressure' exerted upon George to return it! This is a scenario we have heard countless times before, of course. |
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J. J. Green has kindly allowed the scanning of many of the designs from the illuminated book and has generously given his permission for the Pastor of the Baptist Church, Mr. Ashworth, to incorporate some of the prayers into a new panel for the Chapel. John Green of Blisworth was in the Anglican Church. However, his style and dedication to his religious works were typical more of a Baptist, being somewhat evangelistic. We can find no evidence of him being actually closely associated with either church in the village but there is a record of his burial in the form of a handed-down document from W. Whitlock itemising burial costs, coffin and rector's fee, October 12, 1918. Apart from the illuminated prayer book, which comprises over 100 pages of approximately A4 size - a few used here on the left as decoration, there was once two almanacs (miniature encyclopaedias) of which only the front few pages of the larger one survives and some 50 music and verse scores all, probably, in the possession of J. J. Green's father at one time. |
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No evidence has been found of any of the work being published. George Freeston acknowledges John Green's abilities elsewhere in the scrapbook; for example, he suggests that the style of some 19th century Church decorations could be the result of his influence. Genealogy (Most of the information that follows has been obtained by Sally Edwards) The account that follows tends to concentrate only on the male line which leads to John Green and the present day J. J. Green (Collingtree) The first reference to the Green family at Blisworth is for a Richard Green, born in Lois Weedon c. 1781 and married Elizabeth Branson of Lois Weedon - who died young at Lois Weedon. Richard Green was buried in Blisworth in 28 July 1867. He should be designated Richard Green senior because he had a son also called Richard, born c. 1812. Richard junior first married in 1841 Mary Ann Gibbs (born in Blisworth on 9 Sept 1821) and had a son, John Green, who is the subject of this account. It seems probable that he was living in Blisworth by about 1840. He subsequently married Sarah Smith from Shutlanger in 1853 . The 1851 census of Blisworth is clear enough; Richard (a cordwainer), Mary (a bookbinder) and son John (aged 7) lived at 20 Stoke Road, or thereabouts, along with two siblings, Joseph (4) and Elizabeth (1) and with the mother's sister Elizabeth Gibbs. The 1841 census normally fails to locate people accurately in Blisworth but this time we can see two Richard Greens, both aged 25, one at the Grafton Arms and the other at one of the cottages 'On the Green'. Both Richards live alone aged 25 and both are shoemakers and we can assume one of them is the father-to-be of John Green. Some notes in passing: There is the intriguing possibility that Richard Green was doubly-enumerated. Although his father, Richard senior, was buried at Blisworth he lived elsewhere from 1841 to 1861. In 1841 he is recorded as a shoemaker in Lois Weedon and as a shoemaker in Wappenham in 1851. In 1861, at 80 years, he is living in Wappenham with another son, William (a shoemaker) and is recorded a pauper. Note that John Green's mother Mary was a bookbinder. It seems likely that John Green gained some inspiration in calligraphy as a nine year old from his mother and, of course, experience in shoemaking craft from his father. Where his musical and poetic creativity came from is less obvious. Of John Green's personal life we know very little. If he kept diaries they have not survived. He married in c.1864 Ann (Annie) (born 1842, Greens Norton and died Nov 1908 in Blisworth). Unfortunately there is no information on Annie's maiden name. They had a son Joseph George Green, born c. 1867. John worked for the railways for a spell as a time-keeper. He was keen on flowers also, as indicated by the photograph below, and he was a member of the committee for the Blisworth Flower Show of 1912. There is a photograph of this committee but it is damaged and we are unable to recognise him. However, Geo. Freeston on the back of the photograph writes his name in a sure hand. Joseph George Green (c.1867 - ?) did not live in Blisworth for long as he followed employment with the railway companies. In 1891 he was recorded as visiting George and Elizabeth Hill (whose daughter he married) living in the Westley Buildings. Later he was recorded in Greatworth (station master) and in Bradwell (signal-box manager). He retired to Northampton. According to J.J. Green of Collingtree, his grandfather 'Joe', practiced 'family' cobbling. Joseph George married in Blisworth a local woman, Polly Catherine Hill who was born in 1868 and died June 1925, buried in Blisworth. In 1909 they had a son Frederick Arthur Green. More notes in passing: Polly Green's father George was a grocer and shoemaker. Her mother was also recorded in 1891 as a grocer so it appears they ran the grocer shop in the Westley Buildings at that time. Their son George William Hill (born c. 1846 in Stoke Goldington) became a cobbler after being an apprentice c. 1861 to Richard Green (junior) at 20 Stoke Road. In April 1895 he established a cobbling business in a modest barn shop on the High Street - see the photographs here and in the High Street section. In 1901, known as William Hill, he is recorded living at the Westley Buildings as a cobbler. By 1952 his barn shop (No. 13) was derelict and his widow, Mrs. L. E. Hill, lived next door at No. 11 High Street. Frederick Arthur Green (13 Dec 1909 - 28 Feb 1984) was born to Joseph George and Polly. There is no record of where he was born though the village of Greatworth seems very likely. He took up a career in engineering starting with an apprenticeship with LMS Railways at Rugby, later as an engineering fitter and toolmaker, finally as a foreman in Aero Controls Ltd. of Northampton. He retired to 37 Norton Crescent, Towcester. In about 1930 he married Nora Teresa Griffiths (born in 1908 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire) who was nursing in Creaton. Frederick and Nora's son John Joseph Green was born Aug 13, 1931 in Coventry. John Joseph also followed an engineering career which started with an electrical engineering apprenticeship with BTH, Rugby. After a spell with the RAF he joined the Post Office as a senior electrical engineer and rose to an executive planner in British Telecom. Having retired, John chairs the Conservation Trust in Collingtree and is a Church Warden for the church of St. Columba at Collingtree. We are fortunate to have bumped into him!
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Family photographs handed down to J. J. Green |
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