Henry Green (English judge)


Sir Henry Green, of Boughton, was an English lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 24 May 1361 to 29 October 1365. He was speaker of the House of Lords in two Parliaments. Early in his career he served both Queen consort Isabel and her grandson, Edward the Black Prince. He was made justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1354, and knighted by King Edward III. In 1357 he was excommunicated for non-appearance at the trial of Thomas de Lisle, bishop of Ely, in Avignon.
In 1365, while Chief Justice, he was arrested along with Sir William de Skipwith, the chief baron of the exchequer, and stripped of his office. The charges were probably corruption; both Green and Skipwith were fined for their offenses. There is no evidence of permanent disgrace and although he was never again employed by the courts, he kept his considerable estates.
Green married Katherine Drayton, daughter of Sir Simon Drayton. Their descendants include Queen Catherine Parr, the last consort of King Henry VIII.
He died in 1369, and was buried in the church in Boughton in Northamptonshire. At his death his possessions descended on his two sons Henry and Thomas. Henry Green the younger was executed in 1399 at Bristol Castle by the Duke of Hereford for his role as a councillor of Richard II.
During his life he is credited to have bought the village of Greens Norton, in Northamptonshire for a price of 20 shillings.