Background
Almost nothing is known about her mother, a woman identified as Joan Dingley, alias Dobson. Under the circumstances, Joan would have been a member of the lesser nobility, not well-connected at court.
Almost nothing is known about her mother, a woman identified as Joan Dingley, alias Dobson. Under the circumstances, Joan would have been a member of the lesser nobility, not well-connected at court.
She was the wife of poet and writer John Harington prior to Isabella Markham. Contemporary reports claim she was fathered by Henry VIII. Etheldreda brought to the marriage properties previously owned by Shaftesbury Abbey. Sometime in 1550, she had a daughter: Hester (or Esther) Harington.
Etheldreda was present at the coronation of Elizabeth I on 15 January 1559 and she died that same month.
Her husband remarried within two months of her death. She may have died at Street Catherine"s Court, her residence near Bath, and perhaps lies buried in the church next door.
But this is conjectural, as the church records for the period have been lost.