John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton

John Harington, 1st Baron Harington (1539/40 – 23 August 1613) of Exton in Rutland, was an English courtier and politician.

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

He entered the Inner Temple in 1558, and was elected a Member of Parliament for Rutland in 1571.

He was a Commissioner of the Peace for Kesteven from about 1559 to 1593, and was a servant to Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester in the Netherlands in 1585 and was Keeper of Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire (1588–90) for Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick. 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.

Harington was a 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 was made Deputy Lieutenant of Rutland and Warwickshire during the 1590s. He was also High Sheriff of Rutland for 1594, 1598 and 1602.

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