English musician, flute player. John Lanier was a son of Nicholas Lanier, the Elder, by his first wife, and father of Nicholas Lanier, the artist-musician. He was appointed in 1582 a musician to court of Elizabeth I. Served James I as Gentleman of the King' s Chamber. He married Frances Galliardello, who was from a family of Italian musicians who came to the court of Henry VIII; her father, Mark Anthony Galliardello, was a Venetian and had been sent for by Henry VIII. She had a brother Caesar Galliardello.