John Harington (treasurer) facts for kids
John Harington (c. 1517–1582) was an English official working for Henry VIII.
Life
Harington lived at Stepney, and is often confused with Sir John Harington of Exton in Rutland, who filled the post of treasurer to the king's camps and buildings. John Harington of Stepney held various offices, but was not 'treasurer' (and the title of this entry is misleading & a case of mistaken identity in the National Dictionary of Biography. John Bradford was a servant of the above mentioned Sir John Harington of Exton in Rutland and not John Harington of Stepney.
Harington married Ethelreda Malte (Audrey), an illegitimate daughter of John Malte by Joan Dingley, who was the king's tailor. Contemporary reports also suggest that Etheldreda was an unrecognised illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII. In 1546, John Malte had purchased the manor of Kelston in Somerset on behalf of himself and Etheldreda (Audrey) alias Digneley, "bastard daughter of the said John Digneley alias Dobson", and in September 1546, he made Etheldreda (Audrey), "my bastard daughter begotten upon the body of Joan Digneley", his chief legatee and recipient of all his property in Berkshire, Hertfordshire and Somerset. Etheldreda later died around 1556, leaving behind her husband and daughter Hester.
Harington entered the service of Princess Elizabeth. He was a cultivated man and a poet, who in his visits to Elizabeth at Hatfield turned his talents to the praises of her six gentlewomen, but soon singled out among them Isabella Markham, daughter of Sir John Markham of Cotham. He married her early in 1559. Five years before their marriage, he was imprisoned in the Tower at the same time as the Princess Elizabeth; his first wife and Isabella, both being her Ladies-in-Waiting, had accompanied the princess. In 1561, their son John was born, and Elizabeth, who had now ascended the throne, repaid their loyalty by acting as his godmother. He later became known as a writer at her court, where he was often in trouble. Queen Elizabeth I also granted him the Stoughton Grange Estate in Leicestershire.
