Etherege, born at Thame, Oxfordshire, was admitted a scholar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, on 11 November 1534, being placed under the tuition of John Shepreve.
In 1556 he was recommended by Lord Williams of Thame to Sir Thomas Pope to be admitted fellow of Trinity College, then first founded; but as Etherege chose to pursue the medical line, that scheme did not take effect.
As he had been a zealous Catholic in Mary's reign, he was deprived of his professorship soon after Elizabeth's accession.
He lived with his family in 'an ancient decayed palace of literature called George-hall,’ nearly opposite the south end of Cat Street in St. Mary's parish, and took in the sons of Catholic gentlemen as boarders.
On account of his firm adherence to the old form of religion he suffered frequent imprisonments both at Oxford and London during the space of about thirty years.
His friend John Leland celebrated his memory in verse; and Wood says 'he was esteemed by most persons, mostly by those of his opinion, a noted mathematician, well skill'd in vocal and instrumental music, an eminent Hebritian, Grecian, and poet, and above all an excellent physician.'
The Psalms of David turned into a short form of Hebrew verse and set to music.
'In libros pauli Aeginetæ, hypomnemata quædam, seu obseruationes medicamentorum, quæ hac ætate in vsu sunt, per Georgium Edrychum medicum pro iuuenum studijs ad praxim medicam, collecta,’ London, 1588, 8vo, dedicated to Walter Mildmay.