The Greyhound was a Public House

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

 (popularly known as "The Spotted Dog"), in High Street, Old Portsmouth

Old Portsmouth

Old Portsmouth is a district of the city of Portsmouth. It is the area covered by the original town of Portsmouth as planned by Jean de Gisors. It is situated in the south west corner of Portsea Island....

, famous as the site of the murder of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...

 in 1628.

In Letters

The murder site was toured by Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 administrator Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...

 in 1662 with his wife Elisabeth, along with his Republican clerk Tom Hayter and wife, and Sandwich

Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich

Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, KG was an English Infantry officer who later became a naval officer. He was the only surviving son of Sir Sidney Montagu, and was brought up at Hinchingbrooke House....

's Puritan secretary John Creed (Pepys diary, June 3).

Present

The premises of the former Greyhound is now a private building called Buckingham House; it bears a commemorative plaque to mark the event of the murder.