[2] He was the eldest son of William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester and Elizabeth Capel.

[3][4] John Paulet was knighted by King Henry VIII at Boulogne on 30 September 1544.

[5][6] After the death of King Edward VI he was (with his father) one of the signatories to the settlement of the Crown on Lady Jane Grey of 16 June 1553, although he later changed his allegiance to Queen Mary I.

He was summoned to Parliament on 3 October 1554 in one of his father's baronies as Lord St John.

[7] His widow, Winifred, died at Chelsea in 1586 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.