GRENE, Giles (c.1596-1656), of Afflington, Isle of Purbeck, Dorset.

Giles Grene’s father was a Dorchester merchant with strong local connections, numbering among his friends the godly rector of the town, John White, and the influential east Dorset landowner, Sir Francis Ashley†. It was perhaps through Ashley’s influence that Grene was admitted to the Middle Temple and then became a clerk in king’s bench. Grene was also retained as a lawyer by Weymouth corporation during the early 1620s, and was engaged in the woollen trade on his own behalf through the town’s port. He sat as MP for the borough in the Parliaments of 1621, 1625 and 1626, where he made his mark as a critic of the naval policies of the crown, and a defender of wider commercial interests.37HP Commons 1604-1629. In March 1624 Grene became a member of the committee of the new Dorchester Company, which planned to create a godly plantation in New England. His fellow committee members included Sir Walter Erle*, John Browne I* and Denis Bond*.38Rose-Troup, John White, 63. In 1620 Grene had acquired property in the Isle of Purbeck, and was soon acting as steward to the owner of Corfe Castle, Lady Hatton. He was returned for the borough of Corfe Castle in 1628, and showed some sympathy with those who opposed the crown during the session that followed, visiting Denzil Holles* in prison in March 1629.39HP Commons 1604-1629; HMC Coke, i. 383. When the Corfe estate was sold to the Bankes family in the 1630s, Grene continued as their steward, and it was perhaps through the influence of Sir John Bankes† that he secured the surveyorship of the salt monopoly in 1636.40Dorset RO, D/BKL, Box 8C/64, Lady Bankes’ acct. bk., 1633-48, ff. 10v-31v; CSP Dom. 1635-6, p. 360. Grene apparently shared the uneasiness of the Bankes family when it came to royal policy, however. With their support he successfully petitioned for the reduction of the Ship Money rate imposed on Purbeck in 1635, and in 1636 he refused to pay the levy on at least one of his farms in the isle.41Whiteway Diary, 156; SP16/319/89.

Return to Parliament, 1640-1

Grene was returned for Corfe Castle in the elections for the Short Parliament on 20 March 1640, alongside the courtier, Henry Jermyn*.42C219/42/93. Nothing is known of his activities in the brief session that ensued. On 22 October Grene was again elected for Corfe Castle, with another court candidate, Sir Francis Windebanke*.43C219/43/160. In the early years of the Long Parliament, Grene was part of a close-knit connection of Dorset MPs, which appears to have formed around the members of the old Dorchester Company of the 1620s, like Erle, Browne and Bond. Younger associates of this group included Roger Hill II*, whose first wife was Grene’s daughter.44PJ iii. 490. In 1640 Grene joined another friend, Walter Yonge I*, as a trustee of part of Hill’s estate; and shortly afterwards Hill was also acting as legal adviser to another of Grene’s associates, Denzil Holles.45Som. RO, DD/X/VNL/1, pp. 28, 34; P. Crawford, Denzil Holles (1979), 71. This Dorset grouping would prove important in Grene’s later political career, but his loyalty to it was not undivided, and his continuing role as steward to the Bankes family would lead to difficulties with his friends. In 1641 Bond complained that after a dispute over what was due, Grene had ‘refused all the beginning of the year to receive the 13 bushels of wheat which is paid out for Lutton to the Castle of Corfe’, and no compromise was agreed until the end of the year.46Dorset RO, D.53/1, p. 30.

Despite his loyalty to the Bankes family, at the beginning of the Long Parliament Grene joined his Dorset allies in being named to a number of committees that sought to investigate, and reverse, the abuses of the Caroline regime. On 30 November 1640 he was added to the committee on Dr John Leighton, alongside Erle, Hill and Bond; on 22 December he was named with Holles and Erle to the committee to consider allegations against Matthew Wren, bishop of Ely; and on 30 December he was among a number of Dorset MPs, including Holles, Erle and Sir John Strangways*, appointed to the committee on a bill to establish annual Parliaments.47CJ ii. 28b, 56a, 60a. A similar pattern can be seen in Grene’s appointments in the early months of 1641. On 10 February he was added to the committee to investigate abuses in the postal service; on 23 February he was also added to a committee to consider the breach of privilege perpetrated against the 1628 Parliament; and on 8 March he was named to the committee on a bill to prevent clergy holding secular office.48CJ ii. 82a, 91a, 99a.

As yet, Grene appears to have been no more than a backbench critic of the government; but during the spring of 1641 he gradually returned to the role in trade and commerce that had characterised his parliamentary career in the 1620s, and this would transform his standing in the House. He was named, alongside Holles, to the committee for customs on 24 February, although it was three months before its initial deliberations were complete.49CJ ii. 92a. On 25 May Grene reported to the Commons the money owed by the managers of the customs (or ‘customers’), and was faced by barracking from other MPs, who ‘endeavoured to interrupt Mr Grene as he was along in reckoning the sums’. He was defended by Holles, who ‘commended Mr Grene’s exactness in fixing sums upon particular persons, and his fidelity in the performance’.50Procs. LP iv. 561-2. Four days later the two men were again working in tandem, with Holles reporting the offer of settlement by the customs farmers, and Grene supporting his arguments in favour of accepting it.51Procs. LP iv. 648. Grene’s prominence was confirmed on the same day when he joined a committee of four – including Holles and John Pym* - ordered to speak to the customs farmers to see what propositions they might have.52CJ ii. 161a. Shortly afterwards Grene was referred to as chairman of the customers’ committee, and he certainly seems to have been fulfilling that role on 1 June, when he reported from the committee their recommendation that a temporary customs bill be passed, to promote trade.53Procs. LP iv. 662, 671, 680; CJ ii. 163a. Thereafter he led the pursuit of the old customers, reporting to the Commons on the same on 16 July, 6, 7 and 13 August and 9 December.54Procs. LP vi. 241, 265, 401; D’Ewes (C), 257; CJ ii. 214a, 241a-b, 242a. Grene was also named to a related committee on a petition from foreign merchants on 11 August, and he reported on the tobacco customs on 13 August.55CJ ii. 251a, 255b. Individual cases also took up a lot of time. For example, there was an on-going investigation into the monopoly for the trade in calf-skins, and especially to discover leather that was being illegally exported under cover of the patent. The concern of the customs committee was reported to the Commons by Grene on 10 July, and he went on to make further statements on this case on 12 July, 17 and 20 August and 24 November.56Procs. LP v. 590, 604; vi. 502; D’Ewes (C), 191; CJ ii. 260b, 265b.

Closely connected to the customs was the issue of tonnage and poundage. Pym and his allies were aware that tonnage and poundage would give the king a measure of financial independence from Parliament, and they were not eager to concede it without securing significant reforms. This no doubt explains the delay in passing the necessary legislation. Grene and Holles, and another Dorset MP, Edmund Prideaux I*, were among those named to the committee to prepare the tonnage and poundage bill on 18 March, but there had been little progress by 27 May, when they were appointed to a committee to prepare the preamble to the bill.57CJ ii. 107a, 159b. On 2 June Grene, Holles and Erle were appointed to a further committee, to treat with the customs commissioners for the raising of tonnage and poundage.58CJ ii. 165a. The main problem, by this stage, was the need to settle a new book of rates, and this would cause further delays. It has been suggested that not all the problems were caused by politicking. In particular, the decision by Grene’s committee to lower the rates payable by natives and increase those paid by foreign merchants, although popular, reduced the income that could be generated and contributed to the failure to settle the book of rates before the departure of the king to Scotland in August.59Russell, Fall of British Monarchies, 358-9. Grene was at least partly to blame for this. On 31 July, for example, he reported from the committee on the book of rates that ‘until that came to and settled, the rates were so heavy upon the merchants that they were utterly discouraged from trading’.60CJ ii. 231a; Procs. LP vi. 159. Yet there are indications that Grene was not entirely free from political influence during this period, as he was named to controversial committees, including those on a bill to declare Ship Money illegal (19 June), to discuss the Ten Propositions with the Lords (28 June), and to prepare heads for a conference on the disarming of Catholics (17 Aug.). The nominations for these committees included such leading opponents of the king as John Hampden, Oliver St John, John Pym and Sir Henry Vane II, and there is little doubt as to Grene’s own political views in the summer and autumn of 1641.61CJ ii. 181b, 190b, 261a.

The impression that Grene’s role in the tonnage and poundage business was intensely political is reinforced by events in the winter of 1641-2. The king, newly returned to London, again put pressure on Parliament for the grant to be passed, and the Commons were forced to order Grene to make his report on the book of rates on 24 January – an order he obeyed with alacrity.62CJ ii. 387a, 391a; PJ i. 152. It is perhaps unwise to take Grene’s eagerness to break the deadlock at face value. When he reported on tonnage and poundage on 28 January he recommended that the bill be passed in its existing form to prevent trade being damaged, but this led to the calling of a grand committee, which would inevitably lead to further delay.63PJ i. 213. This was not quite the end of Grene’s activity in this area, however: he was made chairman of the committee of the whole House when the book of rates was considered on 7 March; he reported from the same on 17 March; and he was named to a committee to draft the final book the same day.64PJ ii. 2; CJ ii. 469a-b, 482a, 482b, 483a. The Commons eventually ordered the book of rates to be printed on 22 June, but the issue of tonnage and poundage was not settled at the beginning of August, when Grene was sent to the Lords to hurry their deliberations on the resulting ordinance.65CJ ii. 627b, 694b, 699b.

The Committee of Navy and Customs, 1642

By the new year of 1642 Grene’s work on the customs and tonnage and poundage had earned him a place on Parliament’s main committee for naval affairs. The original purpose of this committee was the defence of the coastal waters and the protection of trade, and the political importance of both increased markedly after the outbreak of the Irish rebellion. On 19 November 1641 Grene had been included alongside Sir Henry Vane II*, Samuel Vassall* and John Rolle* in a committee to consider the rates of victuals to be supplied to the navy.66CJ ii. 320a. On 14 January 1642 Grene’s role in naval affairs was confirmed with his appointment to a new ‘committee for the navy’, which would determine which ships would defend the seas in the ‘summer guard’ and also negotiate with the owners of merchantmen to be hired into the service. The committee for the navy would be reconstituted in August as the Committee of Navy and Customs (CNC)*, and given wide executive powers. The committee’s members also included Vane II, Bond, Rolle, Vassall and Pym.67Supra, ‘Committee of Navy and Customs’; CJ ii. 378b.

Grene’s importance in committee for the navy can be seen in January and February 1642. On 27 January, he reported to the Commons the deal that had been struck with ship owners to provide a number of vessels for the fleet; in February he reported agreements with Trinity House and the Bristol merchants to supply ships: and on 8 February he was able to report that 15 royal ships and 23 merchantmen were now ready for the fleet.68PJ i. 188; CJ ii. 398b, 413a, 420b, 434b-5a. On 14 March he reported to the Commons the instructions of the lord admiral, Algernon Percy†, 4th earl of Northumberland, concerning naval ships.69PJ ii. 36. In the summer he was the main reporter from the committee to the Commons, telling the House of the state of the fleet (4 June), recommending that Robert Rich, 2nd earl of Warwick, should be appointed as the new admiral (15 July), delivering letters to and from Warwick (15, 19, 23, 26, 28 July), and reporting the committee’s recommendation that Vane II should be reappointed as treasurer of the navy (8 Aug.).70PJ iii. 14, 254, 288; CJ ii. 673b, 680b, 688b, 690b, 694b; LJ v. 223b. In the second half of August Grene was again acting as the main conduit between the Commons and Warwick, and dealt with day-to day matters such as the unloading of a ship carrying bullion.71CJ ii. 733b, 735b, 736b, 745a. This period of intense activity was rewarded on 15 September, when Grene was appointed as one of the new commissioners for the navy, alongside other CNC regulars such as Rolle and Vassall.72A. and O.; LJ v. 335b-7a. This added to Grene’s already considerable influence over naval affairs, giving him a say in both the formulation and execution of policy. During the autumn Grene’s dominance of the CNC was such that he was the sole signatory of warrants to the navy commissioners.73CSP Dom. 1641-3, pp. 407, 429-30. In the same period he was also one of the most important naval experts in the Commons, and on 23 September he reported the state of the navy, and the requirements for the winter guard.74CJ ii. 779a. Grene added yet another important position to his portfolio on 19 October when he was appointed to Parliament’s new naval executive, the Committee for the Admiralty and Cinque Ports*.75Supra, ‘Committee for the Admiralty and Cinque Ports’; LJ v. 407b.

In January and February 1642 Grene had also become involved, perhaps through the CNC, in schemes to purchase supplies for Ireland and to arrange for ships to carry arms and ammunition to the southern province of Munster, and his importance in naval circles was no doubt the main reason for his involvement in Irish affairs later in the year.76CJ ii. 402b, 410a. He was named on 14 May to a committee to consider propositions from various merchants to send supplies to Ireland; on 15 July he was appointed to a committee to deliberate upon a letter received from the lords justices in Dublin; and on 10 August he was added to the committee for the Irish contribution, to consider the petition of the distressed Protestants of that nation.77CJ ii. 571b, 652b, 713a. His involvement in these ad hoc committees led to his appointment, on 3 September, to the Committee for Irish Affairs.78CJ ii. 750b. Thereafter, he appears to have become an occasional naval adviser on Ireland, as on 7 September, when he was ordered to write to Warwick concerning a convoy with provisions, and on 29 September he was the manager of a conference on the appointment of Murrough O’Brien, 6th Baron Inchiquin as lord president of Munster.79CJ ii. 756a, 787a. On 18 October he reported the ships necessary for the Irish Sea; and on 23 November he reported the sending of further supplies to the beleaguered garrisons in Ireland.80CJ ii. 812b, 860b.

An important part of the work of the CNC was the administration of the customs revenues that paid for the fleet, and Grene’s role in this complemented his other activities, especially on the customers committee. Grene reported from the latter the amounts still owed by local customs collectors on 15 March 1642; he reported the arrears owed by the East India Company on 24 March; and the next day he was referred to as chairman of the committee.81CJ ii. 479b, 495a, 496b. For much of April he was involved in pursuing illegal transactions by vintners, reporting the business, as chair of the committee on the business, and considering petitions by those seeking to compound for their misdemeanours.82CJ ii. 492b, 518a, 520a, 520b, 528b. As Grene’s importance in the CNC increased, so did his involvement in the customs. On 4 June he reported from the CNC the state of the customs accounts, and he also assisted others, including John Trenchard, in the general state of accounts later in the month.83CJ ii. 605a, 616b, 627b, 644b. On 28 July he was named to a committee to consider clauses in the new ordinance for customs, on the same day being appointed manager of the conference on the new measure.84CJ ii. 694a, 695a. On 5 and 10 August he reported from the CNC on defects in the customs system, and on 11 August he presented orders for the better regulating of the customs, which were approved and carried to the Lords by Grene later the same day.85CJ ii. 705a, 713a, 714b. On a report by Vane I or II from the CNC, which praised him as a person of ‘trust, confidence, skill and knowledge in those affairs’, Grene was nominated as a member of the new customs commission on 13 October.86Add, 18777, f. 28; CJ ii. 806b. This was confirmed by the Lords on 15 October.87LJ iv. 401a; HMC 5th Rep. 54.

The combination of different posts held by Grene in the navy and the customs administration made him a figure of considerable authority in the Commons chamber when finance was discussed. On 12 September he was named to the committee to consider the revenue from crown lands.88CJ ii. 762b. On 3 December he intervened in the debate on the assessment rates, and three days later he seconded William Strode I’s argument that the City of London should farm its own customs, adding that a high enough rate would raise sufficient money to fund the whole land army.89Add. 18777, ff. 80, 83.

Politically, during 1642 Grene emerged as a staunch opponent of the king. In January 1642, as well as helping to stymie Charles’ demand for a grant of tonnage and poundage, Grene was also named to two committees that indicate the level of his hostility to the king: to prepare a declaration warning of invasion and insurrection by Catholics and other malcontents (12 Jan.); and to consider the heads of a conference with the Lords on the impeachment articles issued against the Five Members (13 Jan.).90CJ ii. 372a, 376b. In April Grene was named to a committee to prepare a conference on Hull’s defiance of the king, and in June he proposed that a reward be paid to the garrison for their loyalty.91CJ ii. 542b; PJ iii. 116. On 9 July he was named to the committee to prepare a declaration against those obstructing the execution of the Militia Ordinance, and on 30 July he joined Holles and Prideaux as manager of a conference on orders to make Sir Gilbert Gerard* treasurer-at-war, and to put the Militia Ordinance into execution.92CJ ii. 663b, 697b. He was also prepared to support Parliament from his own fairly limited personal resources, which now depended on his official salary. When request for contributions to the war effort were made, Grene responded readily enough, promising £50 in June and again in December.93PJ iii. 471; Add. 18777, f. 109v.

In certain respects, however, Grene’s political position was more ambiguous than his parliamentary career might suggest. He maintained his links with the Bankes family long after they had become political pariahs. During the debate on the county lords lieutenant on 12 February 1642, he asserted the right of Sir John Bankes, as constable of Corfe Castle, to take charge of the Purbeck militia independently from the lord lieutenant of Dorset.94PJ i. 356. In May Grene was corresponding with Bankes at York. It is telling that when Bankes launched a private peace initiative in the same month he contacted Grene before approaching such key parliamentarians as Holles, Robert Devereux, 3rd earl of Essex, the earl of Northumberland and William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele.95G. Bankes, The Story of Corfe Castle (1853), 134-6. Grene also seems to have continued as the Bankes’s steward, paying the rents as usual in October 1642, and sending money to the family through an intermediary in the following spring, even though Corfe Castle was being besieged by Sir Walter Erle at the time.96Dorset RO, D/BKL, Box 8C/64, ff. 39v, 44v, 46v, 64-5. Grene’s attachment to the Bankes family was probably part of his wider commitment to Dorset, which can be seen in his parliamentary activity throughout 1642. On 7 April the Commons resolved to add Grene as a commissioner for the county in a bill against scandalous ministers.97CJ ii. 516a. On 27 September he reported to the Commons a letter he had received from his son-in-law, Roger Hill II, describing the successes of William Russell, 5th earl of Bedford, in Somerset, and the efforts of Denzil Holles in Dorset.98Harl. 163, f. 385v. Grene was evidently a close personal friend, as well as a trusted political ally, of Holles at this time. In October Holles’s wife asked Grene, as chairman of the customs committee, to grant a favour to her kinsman, Arthur Shirley – a request made with the blessing of her husband.99CSP Dom. 1641-3, p. 402. On 13 December Grene, Nicoll, Prideaux and others were appointed to a committee of both Houses to negotiate with the city of London funding for Holles, who was shortly to be sent into the west as commander of the parliamentarian forces there.100CJ ii. 886a.

Parliamentary administrator, 1643-4

During 1643 Grene was directly involved in national politics only very infrequently. He joined Pym and Holles as manager of a conference on the king’s request for a truce on 13 March; in May and June he was appointed to a committee on the need to reduce Newcastle and managed the subsequent conference; and on 14 June he was named to a committee to consider the recent plot.101CJ ii. 1001a; iii. 104b, 115b, 128b. These appointments were important, but they were also sporadic, and it appears that Grene mostly left politicking to others. The affairs of the south west were a different matter. There was inevitably overlap with his naval duties, as on 6 February when he reported that Sir Nicholas Slanning* was trading with the French from Falmouth, and that one his ships had been captured.102Add. 18777, f. 143v. On 20 March 1643 D’Ewes noted that Roger Hill, ‘a western man’ delivered a letter addressed to Grene and himself from Prideaux at Exeter, giving details of his moves to prevent a local truce between the Devon parliamentarians and the royalists based in Cornwall.103Harl. 164, f. 337. On 2 May Grene was named to a committee to consider an ordinance on riots in Dorset, with Holles, Erle, Bond and Trenchard.104CJ iii. 67b. Worse was to follow. The taking of Bristol by Prince Rupert in July was followed by a rapid advance into Dorset and the collapse of the parliamentarian forces of the shire under Sir Walter Erle. On 7 August Grene joined Holles, Bond, Hill, Prideaux, Trenchard and Browne on a committee to consider a letter sent from Erle, who had fled to Southampton, and to find a way to support the port towns that still held out against the invader.105CJ iii. 196b. On 30 December Grene, supported by Strode, argued that the tin farmers of Devon and Cornwall should not only forfeit the money they had paid the king, but also ‘the whole estates of the said tin farmers were to be sequestered’ for their disloyalty to Parliament.106Harl. 165, f. 264v.

Yet even the problems of the west country were secondary to Grene’s main concern, which was the administration and funding of the navy. During 1643 Grene continued to be chairman of the CNC, and his activity can be seen in surviving orders signed by him during the spring.107CSP Dom. 1641-3, pp. 450, 460. He remained an important conduit between the naval establishment and the Commons. On 21 February he was named with Pym, Hill and others to a committee to prepare a declaration on the king’s proclamation for the safety of the navy.108CJ ii. 975a. During March and April he reported from the CNC on the fleet (2 Mar.) and oversaw official correspondence to and from Warwick (8 Mar., 15 and 22 Apr.).109CJ ii. 986b, 986b; iii. 46a, 57a. On 4 April he presented a report from the CNC concerning those ships ready to set sail, and warned of mariners who had been ‘corrupted and misled’ into deserting their ships.110Harl. 164, ff. 353v, 354. On 15 April he reported from the committee information they had received from Warwick concerning ships from Dunkirk.111Harl. 164, f. 368. In early September Grene reported on disputed prize ships held at Portsmouth, and he was involved in preparing an ordinance to allow merchantmen to serve under letters of marque during October.112Add. 18778, ff. 31, 34; CJ iii. 277a, 287b. Grene also reported the victualling of the fleet on 17-18 December.113Add. 31116, p. 202.

Ireland remained an important aspect of Grene’s naval concerns, and he was involved in various measures to try to improve the condition of the Protestant forces there. On 13 May he was manager of a conference on ships’ masts for Ireland.114CJ iii. 83b. On 13 June Grene moved that more money should be provided for the ships in the Irish Sea, and he was instructed to write to Warwick on the same matter.115Harl. 165, f. 111; CJ iii. 127b. Ten days later Grene was named to a committee to consider further supplies for Ireland.116CJ iii. 142a. When Scottish complaints that the ships promised for the North Channel had not been provided were reported to the Commons on 26 June, Grene responded, in his capacity of chairman of the CNC, ‘that a speedy course should be taken therein’.117Harl. 164, f. 234. The agreement of a cessation of arms between the king and the Catholic rebels was greeted with dismay at Westminster, and on 16 October Grene was among those MPs appointed to the committee to consider what action should be taken next.118CJ iii. 276b.

The administration of the customs was an integral part of Grene’s duties on the CNC. On 9 January he was named to a committee to ensure that the customs officials should not prejudice the commonwealth until the new customs collectors were settled, and on the same day in debate he voiced concerns that the accounts of the old customers should not be discharged until scrutinised by the Lords.119CJ ii. 919b; Add. 18777, f. 120v. He went on to report the findings of the committee for settling the new customs officers, and he was ordered to bring in an ordinance for the discharge of the customers, on delivery of bonds promising payment of arrears, at the end of the month.120CJ ii. 940a, 948a. On 11 and 14 January Grene reported from the CNC propositions concerning the customs commissioners, and a week later he reported the instructions and ordinance for the same.121Add. 18777, f. 125v; Harl. 164, f. 280; CJ ii. 927b-8a. On 2 March, when he reported on the ships needed, he requested that the business of the customers be brought forward, and ‘a day assigned to make good their accounts’.122Add. 18777, ff. 169v-170. On 14 March Vane II reported on moves by the CNC and the customs commissioners to raise money for the navy, and he was seconded by Grene.123Harl. 164, f. 327v. Two days later Grene presented a petition from his fellow customs commissioners objecting to part of the new ordinance.124Harl. 164, f. 331v. On 4 May, when Rolle argued in the Commons that tonnage and poundage alone could not fund the navy, he was seconded by Grene, who provided further details.125Harl. 164, f. 383. On 15 July Grene reported from the CNC the state of the customs and navy.126CJ iii. 167b. The problem of money had become acute by August. On 15 August Grene reported the lack of money for the navy, and six days later he gave the Commons a full report on the state of the navy.127Harl. 165, f. 154, 180. On the same day the Commons ordered Grene, Vane II, Rolle and Vassall to attend the City of London to negotiate an advance of money to the navy.128CJ iii. 213b. On 23 August Grene continued his report on the state of the navy and took the opportunity once again to attack the customers, saying that ‘these customers did ill requite the favours which this House had conferred upon them’, and the next day, as the debate resumed, he moved ‘that new customers might be chosen’, although this radical step was not welcomed by the House, and a vote to allow the customers more time – opposed by Grene as teller – was narrowly passed.129CJ iii. 215a, 217a; Harl. 165, ff. 155-v. Three days later Grene reported the shortfall in the customs revenues, and when the funding of the navy was again debated on 29 August, Grene renewed his call for the customers to be replaced.130Add. 18778, f. 22; Harl. 165, ff. 159v-160. Some progress was made, however, as on the same day Grene, Vane II, Rolle, Vassall and other CNC committeemen were appointed to a new committee to treat with the customs officers and the merchant adventurers for an advance of a loan on the customs, to furnish the navy.131CJ iii. 222a. On 16 September Grene was able to report back from this committee that the merchant adventurers were prepared to advance £60,000 secured on the customs revenue, and on the same day a committee, including Grene, Vane II, Bond, Erle, Strode I and others was instructed to negotiate with the customs commissioners.132CJ iii. 243b.

In early October Grene reported the results of the negotiations with the merchant adventurers, and he took the resulting ordinance to the Lords and managed the conference on 7 October.133CJ iii. 265b, 266a; LJ vi. 245b. Grene’s earlier high-handedness had not won him many friends, however, and on 5 October he was reprimanded for giving permission for a ship to import currants against the terms of the ordinance, ‘which was done under the hand of Mr Grene from the committee of the navy without acquainting their lordships with it’.134Add. 31116, p. 163. This led to a protracted investigation, and on 1 November Grene was ordered to bring in the warrants he had issued concerning the trade in currants.135CJ iii. 298a. In the same period there were apparently moves to reduce Grene’s power over the CNC. Efforts had been made to bring together the parallel navy committees, chaired by Grene and Vane II, at the end of September, and on 2 November the Commons decided the two should be amalgamated to form a single committee, which would then report on the winter guard and the summer fleet.136CJ iii. 258b, 299a. If this was a move designed to clip Grene’s wings, it does not seem to have been effective, as he reported from the CNC six times in November and December.137CJ iii. 299b, 303b, 323a, 324a, 334b, 342a, 345a.

The desperate need for money had encouraged the adoption of the excise tax on commodities, and in the winter of 1643-4 Grene was involved in moves to extend the levy, in order to release further sums for the navy as well as to increase the general income of the parliamentarian regime. On 13 November he joined Rolle and Vassall in being named to a committee to consider how to account for money brought in under the existing excise ordinance.138CJ iii. 310a. On 13 December, when a grand committee met to consider the ordinance for a new excise on sales of meat, Grene sat as chairman, and in the ensuing discussion ‘there was some good progress made for the perfecting of it’.139Harl. 165, f. 257; CJ iii. 342b. On 23 December Grene was named to the committee on a new soap ordinance, and on 25 December he moved that the grand committee on the flesh excise should reconvene the next day.140CJ iii. 350b; Harl. 165, f. 257. On 1 January 1644 he was reporter of amendments to the ordinance on the new excise, designed to fund the navy, and he carried it to the Lords for approval two days later.141Add. 31116, p. 209; CJ iii. 356a, 357b. Grene was also drawn into the general administration of the existing excise tax. On 8 January he was named to the new excise committee, along with Vane II, Rolle, Vassall and Prideaux, on 12 January he was one of those chosen to ‘take care’ of the reporting of the state of the excise to the Commons, and shortly afterwards he was referred to as the chairman of the excise committee itself.142CJ iii. 360a, 364b, 371b. On 8 February he again reported from the excise committee.143Add. 31116, p. 328; Add. 18779, f. 63v; CJ iii. 393b. Over the next few months, Grene continued to be involved in attempts to develop the excise and to increase the efficiency of collection. On 30 March he was named to the committee for auditing the excise; on 8 April he was appointed to the committee on the ordinance to continue the excise for a further year; and on 16 April he brought in another ordinance to apply the tax to a greater range of goods.144CJ iii. 442a, 452a, 460b. Grene was named to the committee on an additional excise ordinance on 10 May; he was reporter of an ordinance for improving the excise revenues on 2 June; and he was named to the committee on the ordinance for extending the excise on 15 June.145CJ iii. 489a, 531b; Add. 31116, p. 283. In July Grene was involved in the passage of the excise on flesh, being named to the committee on the ordinance (5 July), reporting the amendments (26 July), and taking the ordinance to the Lords (29 July).146CJ iii. 551b, 570b, 574b.

Essex and the west, 1644-5

For all the dreariness of its detail, the changes in financial administration had an important purpose: for the excise was expected to bear the burden not just of naval operations but also the new campaign by the army of the earl of Essex. This was planned even before the start of the campaigning season. On 20 January the Commons ordered that Grene would take care of negotiations between the excise committee and the excise commissioners concerning money for Essex’s army, and on 24 January he was added to the committee on Parliament’s armies when it considered the funding of the armed forces.147CJ iii. 371b, 375b. On 27 February Grene was also named to the committee to consider how to raise money to allow the force under Sir William Waller* to march, and in this he was joined by a number of western MPs, including Prideaux, Bond, Erle and John Rolle.148CJ iii. 409b. Despite these preparations, the new campaigns were slow to get under way. On 17 April a new committee was formed, to raise money for Essex from the excise, and on the same day Grene was sent to the excise commissioners to arrange for £20,000 for the army.149CJ iii. 462a, 463a. The next day he was again sent to the commissioners, to request an immediate advance of £10,000.150CJ iii. 464b. Pressure seems to have increased further on 20 April, when the Commons received a petition from the merchants of of the city of Exeter and the towns of Chard and Lyme, which was referred to a committee which included Grene, Prideaux, Bond, Rolle and Erle; and Grene was again sent to the excise commissioners to finalise the loan.151CJ iii. 465b, 466a. The ordinance for this loan was taken to the Lords by Grene on 22 April, and on 25 April Grene was among those MPs sent to the commissioners for the advance of the second £10,000.152CJ iii. 467b, 469b; LJ vi. 526a. On 27 April he reported the agreement of the commissioners to grant £10,000 to Essex, and joined Holles, Prideaux and Sir Thomas Barrington in attending the earl to ask him to march immediately, even before the money was paid.153CJ iii. 470b; Harl. 166, f. 52v. Three days later, Grene, Prideaux and Bond were instructed to attend the excise commissioners in order to encourage them to release the remaining £10,000 as soon as possible.154CJ iii. 473a.

The involvement of the western MPs, and especially the members for Dorset, in the raising of money for the new campaign, reflected their concern at the plight of the region, which had been occupied by the royalists since the previous summer. Grene and his friends continued to press for more resources to put at Essex’s disposal, as the earl marched inexorably westwards during the late spring and early summer. On 17 May Grene, Trenchard, Nicoll and Walter Long* were ordered to return to the excise commissioners to ensure the money promised was paid, and three days later they made a return visit.155CJ iii. 497a, 500b. It was not long before some progress had been achieved. On 27 May Richard Roze* told the Commoms of the parlous position of Lyme, which had been under siege for several weeks, and Grene and Erle then reassured the House that Warwick’s fleet now lay off the town and was able to provide support for its garrison.156Harl. 166, f. 67. On 18 June Grene was named with Trenchard, Nicoll, Prideaux and Long to a committee to press the excise commissioners how longer term funding might be arranged for Essex and Waller; on 25 June Grene and Long returned to the commissioners, to request a further £10,000 for Waller; and on 28 June Grene was also named to committee to consider the recruitment and payment of Waller’s forces, alongside Holles and Bond.157CJ iii. 534a, 542a, 544b. On 15 July Grene was able to report that ‘the money sent to pay the earl of Essex his army was safe come to Lyme and did not doubt but that ere this my lord general had it’.158Harl. 166, f. 98. On 3 August the Commons ordered that Grene, Nicoll and Trenchard attend the excise commissioners to raise a further £7,000 for Waller, and on the same day Grene and Nicoll were instructed to find what money might be available for Essex and Waller from the excise and the assessments.159CJ iii. 577a, 577b. On 19 August Grene again went to the commissioners to raise money for Waller, this time accompanied by Nicoll, Prideaux and Robert Scawen*.160CJ iii. 597b.

The catastrophic defeat of Essex at Lostwithiel at the beginning of September left the western MPs divided between those who remained loyal to the lord general and those who now saw Waller as the only credible general in the region. Grene appears to have tried to stay neutral, although his continuing support for Essex (perhaps influenced by his friendship with Holles) is revealing. On 11 September the Commons ordered that Grene, Prideaux and Bond wait on the excise commissioners to raise money for arms and clothes, presumably to re-equip Essex’s defeated infantry.161CJ iii. 624a. On 24 September Grene, Prideaux and Bond, accompanied by Trenchard, again went to the excise commissioners, this time to raise £5,000 for Waller; yet on 4 October Grene was messenger to the Lords with an ordinance to pay for a new artillery train for Essex.162CJ iii. 638b, 651a; LJ vii. 10a. The bottom line remained the security of Dorset. On 8 October Grene, Prideaux, Bond and Trenchard went to the excise commissioners once again, to request money for the Dorset garrisons.163CJ iii. 655b. Later in the same month, Grene was involved in tidying up after the recent campaigns, raising money to provide for widows of soldiers, to retain ‘reformado’ officers, and to arrange the repayment of loans to Essex.164CJ iii. 666a, 673b, 674a, 675a, 677b, 678b. On 23 October Grene was also named to a committee to consider the patents granted to Sir Walter Erle as lieutenant of the ordnance, and to resolve a dispute between him and his officers.165CJ iii. 673b.

Running the Navy, 1644-5

The determination of Grene and his colleagues to turn the excise into the most important source of funding for both the army and the navy was influenced by the failure of the customs revenue to deliver sufficient funds. The first half of 1644 saw other expedients. For example, on 1 March Grene brought in an ordinance to regrant privileges to the East India Company in return for their promise to provide a loan for the navy.166Add. 31116, p. 240. In the meantime, Parliament proved reluctant to implement proper reforms to the customs system, which Grene had been calling for since the previous year. On 20 March Grene reported an ordinance to continue the customs on the same footing for another year, but this merely put off the need for reform.167CJ iii. 432b. The situation came to a head in the autumn. On 11 September Grene reported the failure of attempts to raise a £50,000 loan on the customs revenue, and used this to again attack the collection arrangements, as ‘if a timely course had been taken, others, and those more able men, would have collected the customs’.168Harl. 166, f. 113v. He returned to the attack on 2 October, when he reported from the CNC that the customers ‘made advantage to themselves… and were not able to furnish us with money for the necessities of the state; and that is we did discharge them we might get credit to borrow and improve the customs too’.169CJ iii. 649a; Harl. 166, f. 127v. On 19 October Grene again reported on the state of the customs, ‘and showed plainly that if they continued the customers that now managed it they would fail of money when they needed it’ – a speech that led to ‘hot debate’ and an order that the customers pay their arrears immediately.170Harl. 166, f. 150v; CJ iii. 670b. On 9 November he reported the new ordinance for the customs.171CJ iii. 692a.

When it came to the day-to-day running of the navy, Grene continued to be the main point of contact between the Commons and the CNC. He reported from the committee twice in February.172CJ iii. 408a, 408b. In March he reported on the ships to guard the seas, wrote to Warwick for his list of commanders, and was named to the committee to ratify the latter.173Add. 31116, p. 247; Harl. 166, f. 39; CJ iii. 427a, 431b. In April the Commons ordered Grene to write to Warwick, asking him to hasten commissions to the officers.174CJ iii. 445a. In May Grene repeatedly reported on the fleet, the ships available and the costs involved, and was able to answer objections sent in by Warwick.175Harl. 166, ff. 58v, 67; Add. 31116, p. 280; CJ iii. 507a-b, 508b, 509a. In June he presented an ordinance for the seizing of foreign ships that traded with the royalists, in July he was named to the new Committee for Foreign Affairs (which mostly dealt with trade disputes), and in August he reported on blockade-running and delivered the declaration drafted by the CNC.176Supra, ‘Committee for Foreign Affairs’; Harl. 166, ff. 77, 108; CJ iii. 546b, 568a, 605b. On 21 August he reported on the fleet, and was named to a committee to consider the best way to raise money and reduce costs in the navy and the army.177CJ iii. 601a. In October he reported from the CNC on a prize ship captured off Sussex, and also the urgency of paying mariners.178CJ iii. 652b; Add. 31116, p. 335. On 9 November he again reported the state of the navy and proposal for the winter guard.179Harl. 166, f. 153v; Add. 31116, p. 344. Grene was also the main contact between the CNC and the newly-formed Committee of Both Kingdoms, attending the latter in July and August, October and November to advise on naval affairs.180CSP Dom. 1644, 356, 375, 387; 1644-5, pp. 76, 118.

Through the CNC, Grene was able to pursue his long-standing interest in the release of English captives held at Algiers, whose cause he had championed in the 1620s and earlier in the 1640s. He had been named to the committee on this issue in January 1642 and had acted as messenger to the Lords with a letter from the basha of Algiers in July 1643.181CJ ii. 394b; iii. 155a, 156a; LJ vi. 121a. There had been little progress until February 1644, when Grene reported a further letter from Algiers concerning captives.182CJ iii. 391a. On 28 June the raising of money for this cause was considered by the CNC, and Grene argued that the matter should be decided by Parliament, as the key source of funding was tonnage and poundage.183CSP Dom. 1644, p. 286. On 14 October he again reported from the CNC the plight of the Algerian captives, and took the ordinance on the same to the Lords two days later.184Harl. 166, f. 130; CJ iii. 666a; LJ vii. 26b.

Grene’s prominence in the CNC led to his involvement in related committees. On 13 February he reported the ordinance for the felling of timber, needed for ship-building, on the estates of delinquents and on 16 March he reported amendments to ordinances for the cutting of timber in Waltham Forest and on sequestered lands.185Add. 31116, p. 232; Harl. 166, ff. 12v, 33v; CJ iii. 429b. The ordinance concerning timber on delinquents’ estates was recommitted to Grene and others on 11 April.186CJ iii. 457a. Grene was appointed to a variety of trade committees during 1644, including those to prevent the transport of corn and other foodstuffs (6 Jan.), to consider a petition by merchants importing currants (8 Jan.) and an ordinance to ban the export of wool (3 June), and to examine the abuses in the wine trade (22 June).187CJ iii. 359b, 361a, 523b, 539a. In the summer he was involved in delicate negotiations with the Dutch concerning ships seized by Parliament. On 24 June he was named to a committee of both Houses to consider complaints from the Dutch ambassador, and acted as messenger to the committee with further evidence later the same day.188CJ iii. 568a, 570a. He was chairing the committee to meet the Dutch representatives by early August, and on 16 August he was named to another committee of both Houses with a similar remit, becoming a commissioner for formal negotiations the next day.189CJ iii. 582a, 593a; LJ vi. 675a. On 30 August he reported to the Commons on this matter, and was instructed to take the resultant votes to the Lords.190CJ iii. 612a, 617b. Finally, on 11 September, Grene reported from the CNC on another case – that of the Tiger of Rotterdam - and he was named to the committee to consider the matter five days later.191CJ iii. 624a-b, 629a.

Despite administrative distractions, and the failure of the parliamentarian armies to bring a decisive victory, Grene remained committed to renewing the war effort in the winter of 1644-5. He continued to have faith in the old strategy, despite its obvious flaws. He was named to a committee to raise money to allow Waller to undertake a new campaign on 28 December; the same day he was appointed to a committee to increase cooperation between the English and the Scots; and on 9 January 1645 he attended the excise commissioners to ask for £10,000 for the armies of Essex and Waller.192CJ iv. 3b, 14b. Grene’s insistence on reinforcing this largely discredited military system may have been influenced by his continuing anxiety about the situation in the west country. Surviving letters from January 1645 show how closely Grene was involved with Dorset affairs. On 2 January he was sent a letter from the mayor and aldermen of Lyme, complaining of the poverty of the town after the siege, and querying instructions sent to the excise collectors now resident in the town.193CSP Dom. 1644-5, p. 225. This was followed by letters from the customs collectors in Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, who were encountering resistance from the corporation and requested a CNC warrant to force compliance. One of these collectors, George Allein, also sent Grene news from the west, including of the activities of Sir Ralph Hopton* in Devon, and the progress of the siege of Plymouth.194CSP Dom. 1644-5, pp. 229, 230, 244, 251-2. As chairman of the CNC and a local MP, Grene received petitions from local residents and revenue officials alike, and he was also able to use his contact to get reliable reports of events across the region. The royalist surprise attack on Weymouth in February brought matters to a head, and on 12 February the Commons ordered Grene to attend the earl of Warwick and arrange for naval support for the garrisons in the south west.195CJ iv. 46b. In late February and early March Grene was involved in raising funds for Taunton, Poole and Wareham as well as Weymouth, acting as messenger to the Lords and, with Bond, as lobbyist with the excise commissioners.196CJ iv. 56a-b, 67b.

With his concern for the west, and his continuing belief that Waller and Warwick (if not Essex) could solve the problem, Grene proved at best only a lukewarm supporter of the infant New Model army, although he was involved in some of the committees that preceded its creation. On 6 March he was named to the committee to consider how to procure £80,000 for the new army – even though that measure would siphon resources away from the west in the immediate future; he was also appointed to the committee of the Self-Denying Ordinance on 24 March; and on 29 April he was ordered to take care of providing money for ammunition for the army from the excise.197Add. 18780, f. 12v; CJ iv. 71a, 88a, 126b. It is significant that, towards the end of this period, Grene resumed his activity for the western garrisons. On 12 April he was messenger to the Lords with an ordinance for paying the troops of Poole and Weymouth from the excise, and on the same day he reported to the Commons intelligence concerning Dunkirk ships supplying the king’s forces in the west country.198CJ iv. 108b; Harl. 166, f. 200v. On 14 May Grene was messenger to the Lords with letters announcing the relief of Taunton, and on 20 May he joined Prideaux and John Ashe in attending the excise commissioners to press for a supply of money for the western forces for the next four months.199Harl. 166, f. 209; CJ iv. 149a. The decisive victory of the New Model at Naseby in June, and the army’s victorious march into the west thereafter, may have encouraged Grene to lend it a greater degree of support. On 13 August, for example, he acted as messenger to the Lords with the ordinance to extent funding for the main army for six months.200CJ iv. 240a-b; LJ vii. 537a. But his main concern was ensuring that other, independent, units were properly supplied. Thus on 25 August the Commons ordered Grene to bring in an ordinance to ensure the payment to Edward Massie’s* cavalry brigade in the west; on 1 September Grene, Nicoll, Prideaux and Edward Ashe were ordered to attend the excise commissioners to raise money for Colonel Sydenham Poyntz’s troops in the north; and on 6 September Grene was named to a committee to raise money to encourage the London militia to march in support of the New Model as it made its way into the south west.201CJ iv. 253a, 259a, 264b. By this stage it appears that Grene’s concern for the reconquest of the west had given way to fears that the New Model would now enjoy a monopoly on military power. This can also be seen in December, when Grene, with Rolle, Holles and others, was named to committees to consult with the City concerning the London militia.202CJ iv. 364b, 365a. Grene’s suspicions of the New Model, and his sympathy with London, may have been grounded in his conservative religious views. It is interesting that, after years without being named to any religious committees at all, on 25 July he was included, with Vassall, Rous, Strode, Nicoll, Rolle, Bond and Browne, in the committee to choose those who would select the elders of the London Presbyterian classes.203CJ iv. 218a.

Grene’s discomfit with the turn of military events during 1645 did not lead to a corresponding decrease in his involvement with the navy, however. Indeed, his importance in the CNC increased further in the early months of the year, and there are signs that it was becoming something of a private fiefdom. This was certainly suggested in January, when Hugh Morrell sought to defend himself from charges against him by petitioning Grene, as chairman of the committee, and begging a private audience.204HMC Portland, i. 201. Likewise, in March, when Warwick wanted the navy commissioners to supply hemp to the dockyards at Chatham, he told them to apply to Grene in person, and in the same month Grene presented the list of naval officers to the Commons on behalf of Warwick.205CSP Dom. 1644-5, p. 636; Harl. 166, f. 193v. Grene continued to be an important link between the CNC and the Commons, reporting the needs of the fleet on 20 February, bringing in lists of ships and officers on 20 March, reporting the ordering of the summer fleet on 28 April, and suggesting that Warwick and two MPs should take charge of the same matter on 2 May.206Add. 31116, pp. 387, 398; Harl. 166, ff. 205v, 206v. Grene was again an important go-between for the CNC and the Committee of Both Kingdoms. He reported to the Commons with ordinances concerning the navy and customs in February, and he was summoned to report to the executive in May and June and October.207Harl. 166, f. 179; CSP Dom. 1644-5, pp. 512, 560; 1645-7, p. 212. June was a particularly busy month: on the 17th the trade committee was ordered to attend the Committee of Both Kingdoms to consider a draft proposal by Grene; and on the 28th he advised on the shortage of gunpowder and how it might be supplied.208CSP Dom. 1644-5, pp. 597, 622. Two days later Grene joined the debate on the need to ensure the supply of cannons, following the discharge of the Browne family, advising the Commons that ‘other men would be procured to undertake the work’.209Add. 18780, f. 58. Thereafter, Grene’s workload in the Commons appears to have lessened, although he was still in demand as a spokesman on naval affairs. On 28 August he was ordered by the Commons to report from the CNC all the ordinances in his hands for bringing in money; on 20 September he reported on the winter guard; and on 30 December he again reported from the committee concerning the navy commissioners.210CJ iv. 256a, 280b, 390a, 391a.

With the retirement of the earl of Warwick as lord admiral in the spring of 1645, Grene became involved in the administration of the admiralty. On 7 April he was ordered, with John Maynard*, Prideaux and Browne, to bring in an ordinance to settle the admiralty in a committee of both Houses, and on 12 April he presented the draft ordinance to the Commons.211CJ iv. 102b, 107b; Harl. 166, f. 200v; Add. 31116, p. 408. On 15 April he was nominated, and on 19 April formally appointed, to a revived Committee for the Admiralty and Cinque Ports, along with old colleagues like Holles, Rolle, Erle and Warwick.212CJ iv. 112a; A. and O. On 2 May he reported from the Admiralty Committee their opinion on the high court of admiralty.213CJ iv. 128b. For the next few months, Grene’s activity in admiralty affairs was concentrated on the on-going controversy over the seizure of Dutch ships. On 14 May he took the propositions of the Dutch ambassador to the Lords, on 23 May he was ordered to prepare a declaration concerning the seizure of Dutch ships, and a week later he was ordered to report the same.214CJ iv. 142b, 152b, 157b; LJ vii. 372b. When he finally reported the matter to the Commons on 9 June, according to Sir Simonds D’Ewes* he ‘endeavoured to lay the blame on those ambassadors, that they would not admit of the proceedings of the court of admiralty but refused all trials by that court because the judge was put in by the Parliament’.215Harl. 166, f. 217. Despite his pugnacity, Grene was ordered to report alterations to the declaration on 5 July, and took it to the Lords on 7 July, along with the long-awaited ordinance to raise money to free the captives at Algiers.216CJ iv. 195b, 200a; LJ vii. 483b.

As in previous years, financial administration took up much of Grene’s time during 1645. The customs revenue apparently occupied him only for a few weeks in the spring. On 17 February he was ordered to bring in a new ordinance for the collecting of the customs; on 21 February he went to the Upper House with the new measure; and he returned to the Lords on 5 March with the revised ordinance.217CJ iv. 51a, 57b, 69a, 70a; LJ vii. 221a, 264a. The excise, by contrast, had now become the dominant form of taxation for both the army and the navy, and Grene’s level of activity was correspondingly high throughout the year, as he attended the commissioners to extract sums for the armed forces. He was also deeply involved in the overall management of the excise. On 29 January he took the chair of the grand committee on the excise ordinance, and reported amendments to it; on 19 March he was among those MPs ordered to prepare a further ordinance to ratify the names of those serving on local excise committees; and on 11 April he was named to the committee on the ordinance to create a new national committee for the excise.218CJ iv. 36a, 83b, 107a. In May he was ordered to report on a new excise on paper and parchment, and he was named to the committee on the ordinances for an excise on flesh.219CJ iv. 153b, 158b. Grene was also appointed to the committee for regulating the excise on 6 June.220A. and O. In the summer and autumn, Grene was teller on a motion concerning a debt that might be paid from the excise (23 Aug.), reporter on yet another excise ordinance (9 Sept.), and messenger to the Lords with an ordinance to extend the excise (4 Oct.).221CJ iv. 251a, 268a, 297a; LJ vii. 624a. In the last week of December Grene was ordered to report on the receipts of the excise and the whole state of the excise.222CJ iv. 384b, 388a.

The success of Grene’s efforts in securing Parliament’s financial health contrasted with the decline in his own financial position. The occupation of Dorset by the royalists in August 1643 had denied Grene access to his modest landed income. In March 1644 his attempt to salvage some of his personal property, by bringing wool to London from Dorset, was blocked by the committee at Haberdashers’ Hall, which pointed out that the estates in question were in the ‘king’s quarters’.223CJ iii. 426b. On 24 June 1644 the Commons promised compensation to Grene for a raid on his property in Purbeck by two royalist naval captains, who ‘did plunder a house of Mr Giles Grene … killed divers of his ewes and lambs, and carried away others, to his great damage’.224CJ iii. 541b. At times the administrative burden was also too great for him to bear. On 1 August 1644, in the midst of his activities for the navy and excise, he was given leave of absence ‘for recovery of his health’.225CJ iii. 575a. In 1645 there were moves to relieve Grene financially, at least. He was listed as one of the MPs to be granted an allowance of £4 per week, by order of 6 June.226CJ iv. 161a. On 3 July he was given his first quarter’s allowance, and this was paid at least until May 1646.227SC6/ChasI/1662, m. 10; SC6/ChasI/m. 8; SC6/ChasI/1664, m. 15d. On 26 October 1645 the Commons ‘made an allowance… unto Mr Grene, for the great charges he had been at, and the great losses he had sustained by doing service to the Parliament’.228Add. 31116, p. 478. This was the revival of a scheme, first suggested in October 1642, by which Grene would have a salary from the customs revenue in recognition of his ‘charges and pains… in those affairs’, and the new initiative seems to have originated in the CNC, as it was reported by Vane II. The Commons now agreed to grant Grene £500 per annum, backdated to January 1643, but with the proviso that his weekly allowance would come to an end.229CJ iv. 322b; Add. 18780, f. 153.

Declining influence, 1646

During the early months of 1646, the excise again took up most of Grene’s time. On 10 January and 14 February he was ordered to report on the state of the excise, and this he did on 24 February.230CJ iv. 402b, 440b, 453a. On 9 March he reported amendments to the ordinance to continue the excise after September, and on 11 March he reported the petition of the excise commissioners on a requested loan and was named to the committee to monitor the audit of the excise.231CJ iv. 468b, 472b. In the next few months there is no evidence in the Journals of Grene’s activity in the Commons for the excise committee, and he reappears only on 29 June, when he and Scawen were ordered to take care of discharging the accounts of the excise commissioners up to September 1644.232CJ iv. 591a. Another hiatus ensued. On 18 August he was messenger to the Lords with an ordinance to repay money that the excise commissioners had lent in August 1645.233CJ iv. 645a; LJ viii. 468a. The retrospective nature of these last appointments also suggests that Grene’s days as chief administrator of the excise were coming to an end.

Grene’s activity in naval affairs also declined sharply during 1646, and this presumably signalled his reduced influenced over the CNC, although he remained its chairman. On 22 January the Commons ordered that Grene report from the committee with the list of officers and details of the summer fleet, and on 30 January 1646 the Committee of Both Kingdoms wrote to Grene to arrange a supply of ammunition from the naval stores for the garrisons of Westmorland.234CJ iv. 414b; CSP Dom. 1645-7, p. 329. Thereafter his involvement was far patchier than in previous years. On 9 March the Commons ordered him to report on the ships to be stationed in the Irish Sea.235CJ iv. 469b. On 19 August Grene went to the Lords with orders concerning individual ships, and on 25 August Grene, Vassall, Rolle and others signed a CNC warrant instructing the commissioners to review the costs of the navy.236CJ iv. 648b; Add. 22546, ff. 11-12. In November, Grene was ordered to deliver a petition of various merchants, which had long lain in his hands; he took to the Lords ordinances to allow the navy to borrow money, and for the release of Algerian captives; and he reported the ordinance for settling the admiralty courts.237CJ iv. 718a, 719b, 720a-b, 721a. Even though Grene remained titular head of the CNC, the main tasks of delivering reports, liaising with the Lords, and sitting on ad hoc committees, appear to have been performed by others.

The reason for the sudden decline in Grene’s influence over the excise and the navy is unclear. One possible explanation is that he was busy with other matters, and this seems to be borne out by the evidence. He was involved in commercial affairs, as on 24 April, when he took the chair of the grand committee on an ordinance for the continuation of the East India trade, and he later reported the amendments to the ordinance.238Add. 31116, p. 531; CJ iv. 520b, 695b. More significantly, by April Grene was also acting as joint chairman (with the earl of Warwick) of the Committee for Foreign Affairs. He had been the most regular member of this committee for the previous nine months, and from the spring of 1646 received regular reports from René Augier in France, detailing negotiations with the French authorities on shipping disputes, and the activities of the royalists to raise money abroad.239Supra, ‘Committee for Foreign Affairs’; Add. 4200, ff. 13-36. Not all of this was above board: Grene provided detailed intelligence to the Spanish Ambassador, Alonso de Cárdenas, during the same period, and the presents of cash and wine received in return helped to ease Grene’s financial difficulties.240J.T. Loomie, ‘Alonso de Cárdenas and the Long Parliament’, EHR xcvii. 296-7; Archivo General de Simancas, Estado 2532, unfol.: entry for 6 Oct. 1646.

During the summer of 1646 Grene was also drawn into discussion of measures against the defeated royalists. On 10 July he was named to the committee on an ordinance for the sale of estates belonging to papists and delinquents.241CJ iv. 613a Later in the year he was named to committees on the ordinances to sell the lands of leading royalists, including Edward Somerset, 2nd marquess of Worcester (30 Oct.), and to appoint a committee of both Houses at Goldsmiths’ Hall to deal with compounding (10 Dec.).242CJ iv. 710b; v. 8b. The possibility of a political settlement after the end of the first civil war may also have distracted Grene from his administrative duties. On 9 June he joined Vane II, Holles, Erle, Prideaux and others in being appointed to a committee to consider how Parliament should react to news of the king’s flight to the Scottish army, and on 22 June he was named to a committee to consider what peace propositions should be sent to the king.243CJ iv. 570b, 584b. In August Grene was involved in deciding how much Parliament owed the Scots, and how the first sum due, £100,000, might be raised.244CJ iv. 650b.

Connected with hopes for a settlement was Grene’s increasing involvement in factional politics, and this may have been the most important factor in the decline of his influence and activity in the navy and excise committees. Despite his assertion in May 1646 that he did not intend to become involved in the faction-fighting between the Independent and Presbyterian parties, there is little doubt where Grene’s loyalties lay.245Add. 4182, f. 93. Indeed, his attachment to Essex and Waller, and his obvious doubts about the New Model in the early months of 1645 suggest that he already had Presbyterian sympathies, and during 1646 there are signs that he continued to have dealings with those critical of the New Model. On 10 August he was one of the Dorset MPs instructed to attend the disbandment of Edward Massie’s brigade, which formed the most obvious rival to the New Model in the west country, and he may have been chosen to balance the pro-Independent trio of William Sydenham*, John Bingham* and their father-in-law, John Trenchard*.246CJ iv. 640a. His absence from the Commons for several weeks after 27 August was presumably connected with this mission.247CJ iv. 656a, 679b. The other most promising force that might resist the New Model was the London militia, and Grene was named to two committees to arrange a guard for the City and to consider a petition of the London officers, in the following October.248CJ iv. 679b, 694b. Grene’s involvement in religious affairs may also have influenced his politics. On 23 May he was named, alongside Holles, Waller and a number of leading Presbyterians, to the committee to consider how to determine the ‘scandalous offences’ that would bar an individual from taking communion, and on 5 June he was appointed one of the commissioners for determining scandalous offences under the new ordinance.249CJ iv. 562b; A. and O. Religious conservatism may also have been behind Grene’s appointment to the committee on an ordinance to punish scandalous pamphleteers on 14 August, and it almost certainly brought his inclusion in a Presbyterian-dominated committee to consider complaints against lay preaching, seditious preaching, and the interruption of orthodox preachers, on 31 December.250CJ iv. 644b; v. 35a.

Another indicator of Grene’s hardening political stance was his growing attachment to Lord Inchiquin’s allies in Ireland and at Westminster, who were becoming close to the Presbyterians by the spring of 1646. The first traces of this can be seen in November 1644 when John Hodder, writing from Cork, told Sir Philip Percivalle* that he had asked Grene to use his influence to improve the supplies sent to Lord Inchiquin and the Munster Protestants.251HMC Egmont, i. 241. In June 1645 Hodder was using Grene’s influence to secure a custodiam of confiscated lands in Ireland.252HMC Egmont, i. 256. In November of that year, Grene and Percivalle’s friend, William Jephson*, were ordered to attend the excise commissioners to secure £2,000 for Munster.253CJ iv. 345b. By September 1646 this relationship with Inchiquin’s allies had developed still further, with Hodder telling Percivalle* that he intended to send casks of aqua vitae to a number of MPs, including John Ashe and Giles Grene.254HMC Egmont, i. 315.

Presbyterian politician, 1647-8

The political dominance of the Independents continued until the spring of 1647. Grene’s activity in the Commons during January and February 1647 was correspondingly subdued, and he was named to only one committee of note: that on the ordinance for the sale of part of the lands of the marquess of Worcester, on 4 February.255CJ v. 47a, 50a, 60a, 74a. The same month saw the Presbyterian interest take heart, however, and Grene was one of the beneficiaries of this change in the political wind. He became active in the CNC once again, attending in January, February and March.256SP16/512. On 8 February Grene, Vassall, Rolle and others signed an order to the navy commissioners for the building of four new frigates; on 1 April Grene was mentioned as preparing a declaration in his role as chairman of the committee; and on 24 April he signed a CNC warrant concerning the projected expedition against the royalists on Jersey.257Add. 22546, ff. 13-14; CCSP i. 370; CSP Dom. 1645-7, p. 550. This activity was reflected in his involvement in naval affairs in the Commons. On 13 March Grene was messenger to the Lords with the names of the commanders of ships for that year; on 30 March he and Sir John Clotworthy were ordered to prepare a letter to the French king concerning a ship seized en route to Ireland; and on 12 May he again went to the Lords with news of the readiness of the ships to be sent against Jersey.258CJ v. 113a, 130a, 168b, 169a; LJ ix. 186b. He was also able to use his position on the committee to push forward his own concerns, such as the plight of the captives at Algiers. On 22 April he reported letters received from the basha of Algiers, and on 25 May the Lords resolved that Grene prepare letters from the Speakers of both Houses concerning Algerian captives.259CJ v. 152b; LJ ix. 205a. Alongside his involvement in naval affairs, during this period Grene continued to exercise an administrative role. He was messenger to the Lords with a vote for a declaration on the excise on 3 March, and ordinances for the continuation of tonnage and poundage and customs on 13 March.260CJ v. 104a-b, 110b; LJ ix. 55b, 99b. On 24 March he again went to the upper chamber, this time with ordinances to repay sums to the customs commissioners and to allow part of the excise raised in the west to be used by local garrisons, and on 10 June he was messenger with votes to abolish the excise on flesh and salt, which had funded the navy.261CJ v. 122a, 205b, 206b; LJ ix. 99a. Grene continued to act as chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs during the same period, receiving intelligence on the progress of peace talks in Europe, and, at the end of May, being informed that ‘the queen of England’s court is flattered with new divisions in the General [Sir Thomas] Fairfax’s* army’.262Add. 4200, ff. 7, 9, 37-49.

Royalist hopes might also have been raised by factional tensions at Westminster. Even as Grene was reasserting his position in naval and financial affairs in the early spring of 1647, the Presbyterians were beginning to square up to the New Model army and its Independent supporters. Grene’s own political preferences are obvious in this period. On 27 March he joined Holles, Erle and others on the committee to consider the army’s petition, and on 2 April he was named with Holles, Vassall, Maynard, Rolle, Erle and Waller to a Presbyterian-dominated committee on the ordinance to reform the London militia.263CJ v. 127b, 132b. In April Grene was named to two other pro-Presbyterian committees to negotiate with the City of London for a loan of £200,000 owed to the disbanded Scots, and on 2 May he was appointed to the committee on the ordinance for the same, alongside Holles, Erle, Nicoll and Hill.264CJ v. 133a, 148a. 168b. During June, Grene was involved in negotiations with the army commissioners and to prepare an ordinance concerning the army treasurers, and at the end of the month he went to the Lords with controversial orders for the payment of ‘northern, Dutch and Scots officers now in town’.265CJ v. 210b, 216a, 224a-b; LJ ix. 295b. In another provocative move, on 28 June Grene and Erle were tellers against a motion preventing officers from leaving the army without the express orders of the lord general – a motion carried by supporters of the New Model, with Sir John Evelyn of Wiltshire and Sir Arthur Hesilrige telling in favour.266CJ v. 226a. On 20 July, at the request of the Eleven Members, Grene moved the House, successfully, that they be granted leave of absence for up to six months.267Perfect Occurrences no. 29 (16-23 July 1647), 190 (E.518.7.); CJ v. 251b-252a. But for most of July he appears to have played little part in the Commons, possibly because he was busily involved in a less contentious matter: the securing of £1,000 for the repair of Weymouth harbour from the customs revenues raised there, working with another local MP, Dr John Bond*. Both men had left London by 27 July, leaving the secretary of the CNC, John Randall, to field anxious enquiries about the payment of the remaining money.268Weymouth Charters, 181; Weymouth Min. Bks. 62-3.

Yet Grene did not stay away from the capital during the turbulence of the ‘forcing of the Houses’ that ensued. Instead, he took a leading part in the Presbyterian coup. On 2 August he was named to the committee to investigate recent events, and to try to restore some kind of order, and on the same day he was added to the ‘committee of safety’, which was instructed to meet the London militia committee and arrange for the security of Parliament and the City, and to arrest and disarm those ‘disaffected’ to Parliament.269CJ v. 265a-b. Also on 2 August, Grene joined Erle, Percivalle and Edmund Fowell in considering the breach of privilege perpetrated by the arrest of Sir Samuel Luke*, and the violence done to London soldiers by the New Model.270CJ v. 265a. As the New Model marched on London, it became clear that it could not be resisted by the City militia, and Grene, Percivalle, John Ashe and other leading Presbyterian MPs were appointed as a committee to prepare instructions for those chosen to go to army headquarters and sue for peace.271CJ v. 266a. The New Model’s subsequent occupation of London did not force Grene to withdraw from the Commons. Instead he was named to a series of committees concerning the recent upheaval, perhaps in an attempt to prevent the Independents from making too much political capital from the incident. On 11 August he was named to the committee on the ordinance to repeal all legislation and orders passed during the ‘forcing of the Houses’; on 18 August he was named to a similar committee, to consider an ordinance from the Lords for voiding all business; and on 20 August he was appointed to the committee to consider the matter further.272CJ v. 271b, 278b, 279b. By the end of August it appeared possible that Grene might be able to continue his administrative functions, at least. He reported amendments to a declaration concerning the excise on 27 August, and took the measure to the Lords the same day.273CJ v. 286a, 286b. On 1 September he was named to the committee to consider raising more money for Ireland.274CJ v. 287a. And over the next few days he was given care of an ordinance against clipping money and reported amendments to the Commons, and took the amended ordinance to the Lords for their approval.275CJ v. 289b, 292b.

There was to be no return to normality, however. With the Independents in the ascendant, Grene was a marked man. On 1 September he published his Declaration in Vindication of the Houses of Parliament, which was not only a defence of the CNC ‘against all traducers’ but also a justification of his own public role over the previous six years.276Grene, A Declaration in Vindication of the Honour of the Parliament (1647), 1 (E.405.8). Grene provided a chronological account of the administration of the navy during that period, including the difficulty in settling the customs and tonnage and poundage, the establishment of the CNC and the development of the customs, which was ‘discharged with as much faithfulness, wisdom and advantage to the state’.277Grene, Declaration, 1-8. He then detailed the accounts of the fleet, and discussed the sources of revenue, including the excise, and the burden of other duties, such as the redemption of Algerian captives.278Grene, Declaration, 8-12. The final part of the pamphlet was a personal vindication against charges of corruption. He insisted that the £500 settled on him by Parliament was to cover his costs, ‘having all my estate then under the power of the enemy for above three years’, and that it had barely sufficed, as ‘I have been forced to borrow money of my children and servants, for to defray my ordinary disbursements; yet have I not been profuse either in apparel or diet, but have lived in a far less plenty than before I came to attend the service of the Parliament’.279Grene, Declaration, 18. Grene denied that he had ever received bribes, and claimed that his only aim was ‘to manage those great works with that advantage to the commonwealth, and with that clearness from all private ends’ as befitted a servant of Parliament.280Grene, Declaration, 17, 20.

Despite this public protest of his innocence, Grene’s hegemony over the naval committee soon came to an abrupt end. On 9 September five leading Independents were added to the committee, and on the same day Grene was given leave of absence, ostensibly because of ill health.281CJ v. 297b. From about the same time Grene was forced to share the chairmanship of the committee with the Independent stalwart, Miles Corbett*, and he attended only three meetings in the rest of the year.282SP16/512. It is also telling that he played no recorded part in naval affairs in the Commons from August until the end of December, even though he had returned to the Commons by the end of October, and was active in other areas throughout November.283CJ v. 347a-b. This activity focused on issues that had been of interest to Grene before August 1647, including Ireland, trade and the excise. On 1 November he was added to the committee to raise money for Ireland; on 3 November Grene joined John Stephens* in bringing in a report on Ireland; and on 10 November he was ordered to take care of executing an ordinance to raise £30,000 for Ireland.284CJ v. 347a-b, 348b, 354b. In early November Grene was involved in the preparation of a statement on trade by the Committee for Foreign Affairs, was named to a committee to consider the costs of trade, and went to the Lords with further orders concerning the same.285CJ v. 352a, 353a. Later in the month he was asked to attend the excise commissioners to secure a £20,000 loan for the army, and he was named to the committee to negotiate the same.286CJ v. 358b, 360b. In November Grene’s correspondence as chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs resumed, and he was also involved in domestic politics.287Add. 4200, ff. 53-8. He was teller with Hesilrige in favour of an addition to the peace proposals suggested by the Lords on 1 November; and he was named to two committees, to consider the implications of the king’s flight from Hampton Court (12 Nov.), and to consider information against two Presbyterians implicated in the ‘forcing of the Houses’, Thomas Gewen* and Edward Stephens* (23 Nov.).288CJ v. 348a, 357a, 367a. As in the previous August, Grene’s involvement in these measures should perhaps be seen as an attempt to ameliorate the effects of any attempt by the Independents to gain further ground.

The Independent takeover of the CNC was not seriously challenged until the end of the year. On 15 December, Grene’s friends, including Sir Walter Erle, managed to pass a motion adding ‘divers lords’ to the committee, in an attempt to swamp it with moderates.289CJ v. 385a. On 27 December Grene again reported from the committee, with details of the revenue needs of the navy.290CJ v. 407b. He became a regular in his attendance at CNC meetings in February and March 1648.291SP16/518. In the same period his activity in the Commons also increased. On 8 February Grene reported from the CNC orders concerning settling the money owed to private ship owners; on 4 March he was named to a committee to settle the accounts of the customs commissioners; and on 20 March he was appointed to the committee on an ordinance for settling the jurisdiction of the court of admiralty.292CJ v. 457b, 480a, 505b. In April and May he continued to be active, reporting the state of the navy’s debts (19 Apr.), managing a conference on a dispute concerning a ship (20 Apr.), reporting from the CNC on loans from customs (6 May) and taking an ordinance for the repayment of one of those loans to the Lords (11 May).293CJ v. 537a, 538b, 551b, 556a. An uneasy truce between the rival elements within the CNC had apparently been achieved by this time, and one satirical newsbook described ‘Mr Grene and Miles Corbett, the two chairmen, that used to jostle one another till they agreed to have their market days by turn; whereby they have had fine fishing in the navy, to make fair purchases upon land’.294Mercurius Pragmaticus no. 2 (4-11 Apr. 1648), sig. B2 (E.435.12).

Despite this compromise, Grene was now treated with considerable suspicion. It was public knowledge that he had re-established links with the Bankes family. He had probably assisted Lady Bankes in her composition in the mid-1640s, and he was certainly on good terms with her by November 1647, when he paid the rents due the previous Michaelmas for three farms in Purbeck.295Dorset RO, D/BKL, Box 8C/64, receipt bk., f. 54. The extent of Grene’s attachment to the Bankes family can be seen in a petition to the Committee for Advance of Money sent by Lady Bankes’s younger son, John, in May 1648. In it, Bankes requested that his assessment fine be waived, as he had not yet inherited the property granted to him by his father, being underage. In the meantime, the estate was being held by his mother and Grene, who had responsibility for raising portions for the younger children. As Lady Bankes had already paid a fine in October 1645, the assessment was duly discharged.296CCAM 499. Grene’s activities in the Commons were also becoming suspect. The most obvious example was on 5 May 1648, when he was among those Presbyterians who worked to undermine attempts to prevent insurrection, joining Sir John Curzon as teller to water down measures to put the northern counties in ‘a posture of defence’.297CJ v. 551b; Ashton, Counter-Revolution, 291.

Although Grene went on to be named to committees to consider aspects of the rebellions in south Wales and Kent in June, the doubts as to his loyalty made the mutiny of part of the fleet at the end of May especially damaging.298CJ v. 587a, 605b. On 8 June the Derby House Committee ordered that Grene and Vane II attend the lord general and the earl of Warwick and cooperate with attempts to bring the mutinied ships back under Parliament’s control.299CSP Dom. 1648-9, pp. 110, 112-13. On 12 June Grene received the thanks of the Commons for his service in this, while Warwick, on his way to Chatham, told the navy commissioners that he was confident of success now that Grene was advising him.300CSP Dom. 1648-9, pp. 119, 361. He was added to the committee to draw up a declaration concerning the mutiny on 22 June, and on the same day he reported on financial matters from the CNC.301CJ v. 610b. Perhaps as a result of the mutiny, Grene’s activity in naval affairs appears to have experienced a brief decline through the summer. He attended the CNC only sporadically during June, July and August, although he was still a figure of some authority in the Commons, reporting from the committee on payments to mariners on 29 July, preparing a letter concerning the arrest of a naval captain on 3 August, and supervising the passage of the ordinance allowing the lord general to exercise martial law at sea on 3 and 4 August.302SP16/518; CJ v. 652b, 658a, 659b, 661b; LJ x. 418b.

Grene continued his role in the CNC in the late summer and autumn of 1648, attending the committee regularly from the beginning of September to the end of November.303SP16/518. On 23 August he was named to a committee to attend the customs commissioners for a new loan of £20,000 for the navy.304CJ v. 681a. On 31 August he was sent to the Lords with the ordinance dividing £50,000 owed to the Scots between the navy, the ordnance and the forces in Lancashire, and on 2 September he returned to the upper chamber with an additional ordinance for the same.305CJ v. 693a, 694b, 695a; vi. 1a; LJ x. 476b, 483a. On 11 September the Commissioners for Compounding allowed the navy a further £10,000 credit, with Grene, Vane II and others of the committee standing security for its repayment.306CCC 129. On 14 October Grene reported the details of customs revenues ordered for the navy and diverted to pay garrisons, and on 27 October he took to the Lords an ordinance for raising a further £10,000 for the navy from the merchant adventurers.307CJ vi. 52a, 63a; LJ x. 566b. On 8 November Grene and Vassall signed a warrant to the navy commissioners to fit out four shallops for service.308Add. 22546, ff. 17-18.

Grene continued to court controversy, as he was involved in renewed attempts to make peace with the king, despite the ill-feeling caused by the second civil war. Worse still, he was again working closely with the City of London, whose enmity to the New Model was well known. The first sign of this came even before the insurrection had been crushed. On 5 July he joined leading Presbyterians like John Ashe, John Stephens and Sir Walter Erle, on a committee to confer with the common council about the London militia engagement to guarantee the safety of the king if he came to the capital during the coming treaty negotiations.309CJ v. 624a. Two days later he reported the common council’s answer; on 13 July he was ordered to report on the engagement; and on 14 and 17 July he reported from the committee on the same.310CJ v. 626b, 635b, 636a. Grene also backed the renewal of direct talks with the king from early August, acting as messenger to the Lords with a vote for £100 on account to be allowed to the committee that would travel to the Isle of Wight.311CJ v. 660a-b; LJ x. 415b. During the autumn these peace negotiations continued, and Grene was again involved. On 21 September he was appointed to a committee to prepare safe conduct passes for Scots who had asked to attend the king; on 23 October the Lords issued him with a pass to go to the Isle of Wight in person, to wait on the earl of Northumberland; and on 27 October he was named to a committee to consider how the Solemn League and Covenant might be framed to allow a reluctant king to take the oath.312CJ vi. 26b, 63a; LJ x. 558b. In the meantime, Grene’s connections with London had continued, and these were also controversial. On 22 August he had joined Presbyterians such as Ashe, Erle, Vassall and Hill in being named to a committee on an ordinance to allow the militia to raise cavalry units – a move that would allow them to challenge the might of the New Model.313CJ v. 678a. And on 4 November – his last recorded appearance in the Commons – Grene joined Erle, Vassall, Clotworthy and Waller as a member of a committee to attend the common council to arrange for more suitable guards for a Parliament increasingly concerned that the New Model might again intervene directly in politics.314CJ vi. 69b.

The army’s intervention came a month later, and Grene was among those imprisoned at Pride’s Purge on 6 December 1648.315Mercurius Pragmaticus no. 37 (5-12 Dec. 1648), sig. Ccc3v (E.476.2). Immediately, the CNC fell into the hands of Miles Corbett, as the sole chairman ‘now that his brother Grene is in limbo’.316Mercurius Pragmaticus no. 38 (12-19 Dec. 1648), sig. Ddd4 (E.476.35); CCSP i. 460. Grene was one of only 18 MPs still under arrest on 25 December, although one newsbook considered that he was among the more moderate opponents of the army ‘who (they think) will be willing to be drawn off upon advantage’, and this opinion was shared by a royalist agent, who thought he was one of the ‘prudential men’ who would soon submit.317Mercurius Pragmaticus no. 39 (19-26 Dec. 1648), sig. Eee4 (E.477.30); Bodl. Clarendon 34, f. 17. Grene had probably been set free by the end of January 1649.318Underdown, Pride’s Purge, 195.

Later career and conclusion

After his release, Grene retired to his Dorset estates, and played no further part in public life. In 1654 he purchased property in Motcombe from John Croke for £4,500.319C7/418/59. Grene’s health had broken down by December 1655, when he made his will. As he had already made detailed provision for his children in an earlier deed, the will did little more than tidy up the estate, and in particular it specified the fate of his recent purchase at Motcombe. Grene left the new lands to his eldest son, John, and a life interest in the house and its contents, as well as a living allowance, to his widow. A sign of Grene’s improved financial position was his bequest of £250 to his daughter Sarah, because her original marriage portion was only modest, and the cancelling of the debts owed to him by two sons-in-law. The overseers of the will included Roger Hill II, and one of the executors was Walter Yonge, son of Walter Yonge I.320PROB11/252/668. Grene died in the new year of 1656 and was buried at St Benet Fink in London on 5 January.321Som. and Dorset N. and Q. ii. 281. He was the only one in his family to sit in Parliament.

Giles Grene’s career in the Long Parliament was dominated by his duties as a member, and then chairman, of the Committee of Navy and Customs, and his involvement in the development and administration of the customs and excise taxes as the main ways of funding the navy and the army. Grene’s political career was slow to develop, beginning with his support for reform in early 1640s, then becoming focused on the fate of the west country, and especially Dorset, through the first civil war, and eventually emerging as a strong attachment to the Presbyterian interest at Westminster, born of fear of the power of the New Model and their political backers. At each stage, Grene’s response was innately conservative, and this is also evident in what can be seen of his religious attitudes, his affinity with the city of London, his desire for a treaty with the king in 1648, and his dogged loyalty to the Bankes family.