John Greenwood (MP)


John Greenwood was an English politician who served as Liberal M.P for Ripon, North Yorkshire.

Family life

John Greenwood was the only son of Frederick Greenwood and Sarah Staniforth. The Greenwood family resided at Swarcliffe Hall near Harrogate and well regarded in the area. His mother was the daughter of Samuel Staniforth and the granddaughter of Thomas Staniforth who both held the title of Lord Mayor of Liverpool, and who originated from the Staniforth family that built Darnall Hall in Sheffield.
He was a student of Lincoln's Inn and earned a B.A in 1851 and M.A in 1860.
He married Louisa Elizabeth Barnardiston, the daughter of Nathaniel Clarke Barnardiston on the 19 February 1852 and had four sons, Frederick Barnardiston Greenwood, Charles Staniforth Greenwood, Edwin Wilfred Greenwood and Hubert John Greenwood. They also had a daughter Clara Louisa Greenwood who went onto marry Francis Edward Fitzalan-Howard, the Lord Howard of Glossop.
He was the grandfather of English Cricket player R. T. Stanyforth through his son Edwin.

Career

John served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for the Ripon constituency in the North Yorkshire town of Ripon between 1853 and 1865. He was a Justice of the peace for Yorkshire and also served as a Major for the Yorkshire Hussars Yeomanry.
In 1848 he engaged architect Major Rohde Hawkins, the husband of his only sister Mary Littledale Greenwood to build what would become the present Swarcliffe Hall.
He passed away at the Grosvenor Hotel in Pimlico, London on February 21, 1874.