He was the eldest son of
Sir Gilbert Lyttelton. He entered
Magdalen College, Oxford in 1576 and studied law at the
Inner Temple. He married
Meriel, daughter of Sir
Thomas Bromley, Lord Chancellor of England. They had three sons and eight daughters. He was elected to Parliament as
knight of the shire for
Worcestershire in 1584, 1586 and 1597. He was also
JP for the country from about 1583 and was its
custos rotulorum by 1601. He was involved in the Rebellion of
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex in 1601 and was subsequently tried for
high treason, but died in the
Queen's Bench prison in July 1601, having been reprieved from execution. In consequence, his estates (in
Frankley,
Halesowen,
Hagley and
Upper Arley) were forfeited to the Crown, but were restored to his widow, Meriel, on the accession of
James I. She survived him (by 28 years) and cleared the estates of debt, bringing up her children as
Anglicans. Sir John was buried at
St. George the Martyr, Southwark. ==Family==