John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton

For others with similar name, see John Harrington (disambiguation)

Lord Harington

John Harington (1539/40 – 23 August 1613, Worms, Germany) was an English courtier and politician.

Family

Harington was the eldest son of Sir James Harington (c.1511–1592) of Exton Hall, Rutland, and his wife, Lucy Sidney (c.1520–c.1591), daughter of Sir William Sidney and his wife, Anne Pagenham. His family was said to have held 'the most extensive estates in Rutland during the late sixteenth century'.^[1]

Career

He joined the Inner Temple in 1558, and was MP for Rutland in 1571.

He was commissioner of the peace for Kesteven from about 1559 to 1593, servant to Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester in the Netherlands 1585 and keeper of Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire for Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick (1588–90). He was appointed Sheriff of Warwickshire for 1582 and was knighted in 1584 by Sir Henry Sidney at Sir Thomas Henneage's house in London.^[2]

Harington was knight of the shire (MP) for Warwickshire in 1586, when he accompanied Mary, Queen of Scots through Warwickshire on her way to Fotheringhay in Northamptonshire. He was again MP for Rutland in 1593 and 1601 and made Deputy Lieutenant of Rutland and Warwickshire during the 1590s. He was also High Sheriff of Rutland for 1594, 1598 and 1602.

Sir John Harington was created Baron Harington in July 1603 at the coronation of James I, the first Baron Harington of Exton, Rutland. He was made guardian of James' daughter, Elizabeth. The high cost of entertaining the Princess ruined him. As partial recompense Harington was granted a licence to mint the first copper farthings by the King. Princess Elizabeth married the Elector Palatine, Frederick V and Lord Harington accompanied her to the Electoral Palatine, but died on his way back in 1613. After his death, the Exton estate was sold to pay his creditors, being purchased by Sir Baptist Hicks.

Marriage and children

His wife was Anne, daughter of Robert Keilway, Surveyor of the Court of Wards and Liveries.

He was succeeded by his son John Harington, 2nd Baron Harington of Exton. Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford was his daughter.

References

• Jan Broadway, ‘Harington, John, first Baron Harington of Exton (1539/40–1613)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, August 2005 accessed 15 August 2005