John Spring was the son of
Thomas Spring of Lavenham (d.1523) by his first wife, Anne King, whose family was of
Boxford, Suffolk. He had a cousin, also John Spring, whose daughter, Margaret, married Aubrey de Vere, second son of
John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford; Aubrey de Vere and Margaret Spring were the grandparents of
Robert de Vere, 19th Earl of Oxford. Spring inherited the
Spring family cloth trading business, as well as an extensive estate, following his father's death. His lands holdings increased when the Spring family were granted former abbey lands after the
dissolution of the monasteries. During the reign of
Edward VI he was referred to as lord of the manor of Leffey. He was knighted at the accession of
Edward VI. Spring aided the dukes of
Norfolk and
Suffolk in suppressing the
Lavenham revolt of 1525, by removing the bells from the Church of St Peter and St Paul, meaning the rebels could not be called to arms. Spring made his last will on 8 June 1544 as 'John Spring of
Hitcham, esquire', leaving bequests to his wife, Dorothy, his father-in-law, Sir William Waldegrave of
Smallbridge in
Bures St Mary, and mother-in-law, Margery (née Wentworth) Waldegrave, his son and heir, William, his son-in-law, Edmund Wright, and his unmarried daughter, Bridget, and expressing the wish that
Sir William Drury should 'have the marriage of my son [William] before any other'. The will was proved 21 May 1549. Sir John Spring was buried at Hitcham. Sir John Spring's
great-great-grandson was made a
baronet by
Charles I. ==Marriage and issue==