George Harper (MP)

Sir George Harper (11 March 1503 to December 1558) was an English politician. He was Member of Parliament for Kent.

Harper was born 11 March 1503. He was the son of Richard Harper of Latton, Harlow, Essex and his wife Constance, the daughter of Sir Robert Chamberlain of Capel and Gedding, Suffolk. In November 1524, George Harper married his first wife, Lucy, the daughter of Thomas Peckham. She died in 1552. By June 1556, Harper had married again, to Audrey Gainsford, widow of George Taylor of Lingfield, Surrey, and daughter of Sir John Gainsford (d.1540) of Crowhurst, Surrey, by his fifth wife, Audrey Shaa, daughter of Sir John Shaa, Lord Mayor of London.

In February 1547, Harper was knighted. He held several offices. He was Esquire of the body by 1533; Justice of the Peace for Kent from 1539 to 1547; keeper of the manor of Penshurst, Kent 1543; Sheriff of Kent from 1548 to 1549 and held several commissions.

George Harper had been the ward of his grandfather after his father's death. After the death of his grandfather, Harper's stepfather, Alexander Culpeper, purchased his wardship for £180. The Culpepers were a well-known Kentish family during the sixteenth-century. At the age of 21, he married his stepfather’s great-niece Lucy Peckham. He became a courtier at the court of Henry VIII, and became an esquire of the body. During the Lincolnshire Rising in 1536, Harper was trusted to carry letters between the King and the Duke of Suffolk, who was leading the King's troops against the protesters.

...
Wikipedia