Was Elizabeth, wife of Francis Greene (d. 1706/7), actually Elizabeth Brent?
Is it possible that Elizabeth, wife of Francis Greene (d. testate 1706-07) of Greene's Inheritance (in Port Tobacco Hundred), Charles Co., Maryland, was a sister of George Brent, Esq, of Woodstock, Stafford Co., Virginia?Their families were definitely intertwined in the Chesapeake not only during their lifetimes, but before their appearance and among their descendants.Elizabeth Brent was a legatee in the 1663 will of her aunt, Mrs Margaret Brent, along with her brother George and her married sister Anne (Brent) Clifton, along with their first-cousins:Giles, Mary and Richard Brent (children of Giles Brent, Esq, by his first wife Kittamaquund).
Francis Greene's father, Thomas Greene (d. 1651), Esq, Governor of Maryland, interacted closely in political dealings with both Mrs Margaret Brent and Giles Brent, Esq, from the earliest days of the Maryland settlement to the demise of Governor Leonard Calvert [who may have been married to Anne, a sister of Mrs Margaret Brent and Giles Brent, Esq (see Timothy B. Riordan's The Plundering Time:Maryland and the English Civil War 1645-1646 (Baltimore, 2004), pp. 106-107)].
Francis and Elizabeth Greene had the following known children:Clare, Giles, Leonard, Verlinda and Francis.The onomastic evidence clearly shows a possible link between the Greene and Brent families, given the usage of Giles and Leonard as given names, as well as the female name Clare.Clare Brent (d. 10 Mar 1689) was the eldest daughter of George Brent, Esq, of Woodstock by his second wife Mary (Sewall) Chandler-Brent (ca. 1658-12 Mar. 1693/94).George Brent, Esq, as well as his brother Robert Brent (ca. 1660-19 Jan 1695/96), Gent, represented Francis Greene as his representatives in his business dealings in Virginia.
Further, the Brent family had a proclivity for marrying within its enclave of Catholic cousins.Robert Doyne of Charles Co., Maryland, a grandson of Robert Brent (ca. 1660-19 Jan 1695/96), married Jane Greene, a granddaughter of Francis and Elizabeth Greene through their son Leonard.
Ignatius Causine of Port Tobacco selected his "cousin" Francis Greene to be an overseer of his estate, and this fact has been used by some to place Greene's wife Elizabeth into Causine's family network.After reviewing the Causine's extended family I cannot find an appropriate Elizabeth to place as Francis Greene's wife, and it further appears to me that the vague term "cousin" might be used to describe a non-nuclear family relationship between Causine and Greene.The mothers of both men had as their last husband, Robert Clarke, Esq;the women being Jane (Hicks) Cockshutt-Causine-Clarke and Winifred (Seaborne) Greene-Clarke.
Any input on this tentative placement of Elizabeth Greene as a Brent would be appreciated.