Place Name
Named after John Grene (1627 – 1705), clerk to the New River Company in the 1600s and husband to the granddaughter of its mastermind Sir Hugh Myddelton. Grene himself was well connected being the son of Giles or Gyles Grene, merchant and MP for Dorset. He was clerk to the company from 1667 to 1697 during which time he had the Court Room, later to become known as the Oak Room, built at the company’s headquarters for meetings and lunches. On February 27, 1655 he married Elizabeth Middleton, the daughter of Sir William Middleton.
