By Ken Lindsay

Several years ago, I worked diligently to learn whether or not, Nicholas’ wife; Anne was the daughter of Governor William Fuller and his wife, Sarah Marteau, of Maryland and South Carolina. I couldn’t come up with conclusive proof one way or the other. It is fact that Nicholas bought "Whitehall" which was the Anne Arundel home of Governor William Fuller who departed for Virginia about the same time Nicholas arrived in the Maryland Colony. When Governor Fuller died in South Carolina, Charles Greenberry applied to the Maryland Colonial Council to administer the Maryland part of Fuller’s estate and it was granted.

Nicholas Greenberry, of Maryland, can be placed in London for at least at short time, when he sailed from there for Maryland in 1674. Though not stated in the 1674 record from what port the master William Wheatly sailed the ship "Constant Friendship," it was undoubtedly London. Records in 1672 for the "Friendship" and 1675 for the "Constant Friendship" with William Wheatley as master both times sailed from London. Shippers of goods included names with Anne Arundel Co., Maryland connections: Sparrow, Sprigg, John Collingwood (uncle of Nicholas Gassawasy), and Edward Lloyd. There are a number of Courts in which an estate may have been probated in the London area. At present, no will or administration has been found for a Nicholas Greenberry in the London area.

At the time of his birth, England was involved in a civil war that didn’t end until Nicholas was six years old. During this period of time, King Charles I was beheaded and Cavaliers began migrating to the Virginia Colony and the Toleration Act of Maryland passed granting protection to all Christians. Puritans began to move out of the Virginia Colony into Maryland and Charles II became king of England.

In 1662, when Nicholas Greenberry was nineteen years old, a great age of scientific discovery began in England. Almost every year of the half-century that followed saw steps being made in knowledge. Our first national observatory rose at Greenwich and modern astrology began with the long series of observations that immortalized the name of Flamsteed. His successor, Haley, undertook the investigation of tides, comets and terrestrial magnetism. Hook improved the microscope and gave a fresh impulse to microscopical research. Boyle made the air pump a means of advancing the science of pneumatics and became the founder of experimental chemistry. Sydenham introduced a careful observation of nature and facts, which changed the face of medicine. The physiological researches of Willis first threw light upon the structure of the brain. Woodward was the founder of mineralogy. But great as some of these men are, they are lost in the luster of Isaac Newton and his discovery of the law of gravitation in 1666.

The English background of Colonel Nicholas Greenberry of Anne Arundel County, Maryland has long eluded researchers. On 9 July 1674 Capt. William Wheatly, master claimed rights due for transportation of 43 passengers on board the Constant Friendship. Among the passengers were Mr. Greenberry, his wife & two children

Greenberry was commissioned Justice of the Provincial Court 16 April 1691 and upon the death of Colonel Lionel Copley, Nicholas Greenberry became Acting-Governor of the colony from September 9 to September 25, 1693. Prior to this he was Keeper of the Great Seal.

Nicholas Greenberry was sworn in as Judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court and was Judge of the High Court of Chancery 17 December 1697. Also, he was President of the Provincial Court in 1693.

Greenberry, as a given name, has been carried into the Dorsey family and on into later generations of Lindsays. This tells us several generations know their lineage.

Nicholas Greenberry and Anne (_______) had four children:

1054.4 Elizabeth Greenberry, b. 23 Sep 1668 in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland; d. 02 Mar 1718 in Easton, Talbot Co., Maryland bur. in Ashby Cemetery; Md. 2 Sept 1694, Robert Goldsborough