Sir James Harington was a 16th century English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 public servant who fulfilled a number of legal, legislative and law enforcement duties and was knighted in 1565.

Public career

James Harington's legal career began at a young age when he was called to the Inner Temple

Inner Temple

The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

 in 1536. He served as Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 in Kesteven

Kesteven

The Parts of Kesteven are a traditional subdivision of Lincolnshire, England. This subdivision had long had a separate county administration , along with the other two parts, Lindsey and Holland.-Etymology:...

, Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

 in 1547, and in Rutland

Rutland

Rutland is a landlocked county in central England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire and southeast by Peterborough and Northamptonshire....

 he became sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

 in 1553 and Justice of the Peace circa 1559. He continued to fulfill the duties of sheriff in 1560-61 and, following his knighthood in June 1565, returned to those duties in 1566-67, 1578–79 and, near the end of his life, in 1586-87. Additionally, by 1569, he served as Rutland Commissioner Musters.

Parentage, marriage and descendants

Sir James Harington was the son of John Harington (died 1554) and Elizabeth Moton. In 1539 he married Lucy, the daughter of Sir William Sidney

Sir William Sidney

Sir William Sidney was an English courtier under Henry VIII and Edward VI.-Life:He was eldest son of Nicholas Sidney, by Anne, sister of Sir William Brandon...

 of Penshurst

Penshurst

Penshurst is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The parish is located on the northern slopes of the Weald, west of Tonbridge. Within the parish boundaries are the two villages of Penshurst and Fordcombe, with a combined population of some 1,479 persons. The...

, Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

.
Their children were:

• John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton
  John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton
  John Harington was an English courtier and politician.-Life:He was the son of James Harington and was knighted in 1584...
  
  
• Sir Henry Harington of Wicklow
• Sir James Harington
• Mabel Harington
• Sarah Harington (Baron Hastings & Baron Zouche of Haringworth)
• Elizabeth Harington
• Theodosia Harington
• Margaret Harington
• Francis Harington
• Catherine Harington
• Mary Harington.