Some historians say John's ancestry is unknown,[1] but others say he was the son of a canon, or priest. Although Greenford is a location in Middlesex, no contemporary record gives him that name, and it not known when the surname was first attached to John.[2] He was a prebend of London, and Dean of Chichester,[3] holding the office of dean for over 20 years.[2] He was elected to the see of Chichester in late April 1173, and consecrated on 6 October 1174.[4] As he is said to have been the son of a priest, he obtained a papal dispensation in the summer of 1174.[5] He died on 26 April 1180.[4] Besides his profession of obedience to the Archbishop of Canterbury, another 13 documents of John's survive.[6]
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-56350-X.
Greenway, Diana E. (1996). "Bishops". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300. Vol. 5: Chichester. Institute of Historical Research. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
Greenway, Diana E. (1996). "Deans". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300. Vol. 5: Chichester. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
Mayr-Harting, Henry (1964). "Introduction". The Acta of the Bishops of Chichester 1075–1207. Torquay, UK: Canterbury & York Society. pp. 3–70. OCLC3812576.
