The Family Man

Abstract

After setting out the limited range of sources available that provide information on Harrington’s life, Chapter 1 explores his family connections and early years. Detail is provided on his immediate family background and the close interaction between him and his siblings as reflected in testamentary evidence. Attention is also paid to the origins of the relationship between the Harrington family and the Stuarts, especially Charles I’s sister Princess Elizabeth, later Queen of Bohemia. The chapter traces Harrington’s early life from his birth in Northamptonshire in 1611 through to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642. It examines, in particular, his education at Trinity College Oxford and the Middle Temple, and his European tour.