The Green Man of Brighton, or the Bath Bugabo
- Joanne Major
- May 21
- 4 min read
Updated: May 22
A spruce little man, in a doublet of green,
Perambulates daily the streets and the Steyne;
Green stripe is his waistcoat, his small-clothes are green,
And oft round his neck, a green ‘kerchief is seen;
Green watch-strings, green seals, and for certain I’ve heard,
(Tho’ they’re powder’d) green whiskers, and eke a green beard!
Green garters, green hose, and, deny it who can,
The brains too are green, of the little Green Man!
The Omnium Gatherum, 1809
The mysterious Green Man of Brighton was Henry Cope. It was in 1802, at Bath, that The Green Man first came to notice. Described as 'The Bath Bugabo,' he caused consternation on the city's streets. A print describes him as the 'widow's terror.' Was he seeking a wife, perhaps a widow with a fortune? Four years later, The Green Man resurfaced in Brighton and attracted widespread notoriety. Newspapers speculated on his origins, and what might have led to his derangement. Various theories floated around: he had lost his mind due to love, or too much study.
A portrait of 'a' Henry Cope c.1765-1770, and said to be The Green Man when young, was sold by Sothebys. Their notes make claims to the Cope family of Bramshill House for his lineage. In the portrait, by Francis Cotes, the sitter holds a ring and the catalogue entry theorizes that the portrait might indicate a marriage, or at least an engagement. If this portrait is of The Green Man when he was younger then it means that, at the time of his fame in Bath and Brighton, he was in his late 60s, or 70s. Perhaps, then, he was suffering from a form of dementia and needed help rather than to be mocked?
However, the contemporary caricatures of The Green Man made in the first decade of the 1800s do not show him as an elderly man. Neither does any report from that decade describe him as being aged. It's not clear how the Cotes portrait came to be identified with The Green Man, other than he has the same name and is wearing a green suit.
On 25 September 1806, someone staying in Brighton sent a letter that got printed in the newspapers.
Among the personages here attracting public notice, is an original, or would-be original, generally known by the appellation of ‘The Green Man.’ He is dressed in green pantaloons, green waistcoat, green frock, green cravat, and though his ears, whiskers, eyebrows and chin are better powdered than his head, which is, however, covered with flour, his countenance, no doubt, from the reflection of his clothes, is also green. He eats nothing but greens, fruits and vegetables; has his apartments painted green, and furnished with green sofa, green chairs, green tables, green bed and green curtains. His gig, his livery, his portmanteau, his gloves, and his whip, are all green. With a green silk handkerchief in his hand, and a large watch chain with green seals, fastened to the green buttons of his green waistcoat, he parades every day on the Steyne, and in the libraries, erect like a statue, walking, or rather moving as to music, smiling and singing, as well contented with his own dear self, as well as with all those around him, who are not few.
‘Of what I am sure,’ the letter continued, ‘is that the Green Man is often surrounded by more impertinent coxcombs or fools than himself, who want both his sense and his temper.’ The writer went on to say that The Green Man obviously had some wealth. His diet alone cost a lot, because he ate scarce and expensive fruits. He also frequented the town's balls and theatre, and made excursions locally. To be honest, other than a marked preference for the colour green, Henry Cope seems to have been an inoffensive man and certainly no danger to anybody.
However, The Green Man had delusions of grandeur to go along with his money for he styled himself with the fictitious title, Earl Vernor. Then, in 1806, his stay in Brighton reached an almost fatal climax. Early one Saturday morning and for an unknown reason, The Green Man jumped out of the window of his lodgings (on South Parade), ran to the cliff opposite, and either jumped or threw himself over onto the beach below. It was a drop of about 20 ft and he survived the fall.
The Green Man of Brighton has received no serious injury from his late accident, though it has effected some change in his colour – for he has ever since looked rather blue. (Morning Post, 24 October 1806.)
After that, The Green Man was taken to London, and placed in Mr Warburton's 'private receptacle for insane persons at Bethnal Green.' A year later his belongings and green clothes were auctioned off to pay for his upkeep. One of the items was a gold repeater watch, engraved inside: The Right Hon. H. Cope, Earl Vernor.
Bethnal House gained a grim reputation. 'Inmates were chained to bedsteads at night and slept naked, sometimes three to a bed, on straw that was left filthy. Around 500 people were held in these conditions. Parliamentary reports in 1816 and 1827 found beatings were common and medical treatment perfunctory.' (Layers of London, Bethnal Green Asylum.) It would seem that The Green Man met a sorry end.
The Green Man's death was reported in the following summer to the auction. He was buried (as Henry Cope) at St Matthew's, Bethnal Green, on 6 August 1808, presumably having never left Mr Warburton's establishment.
With this, his few years of fame were over but The Green Man remains a Brighton legend, and noted eccentric.
Sources not mentioned above:
The General Evening Post, 25-27 September1806
The Morning Advertiser, 10 October 1806
Morning Post, 22 October 1806
Staffordshire Advertiser, 01 November 1806
The Oxford University and City Herald, 29 November 1806
The Morning Advertiser, 5 September 1807
The Morning Advertiser, 2 September 1808
Sotheby's website
" Parish Register, St Matthew, Bethnal Green, Middlesex". FreeREG Parish Register database https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/63edf08bf493fd573cb4b862.
Bethnal Green Asylum by Sean Gubbins on Layers of London.
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