SAVAGE, Thomas (by 1585-1635)

The Savage family had accumulated a large estate in Cheshire from the fourteenth century, sufficient for William Cecil^†, 1st Lord Burghley, in 1588, to include Savage’s grandfather, Sir John Savage, in a list of knights wealthy enough to support a barony.36 HP Commons, 1508-1603, iii. 348; Lansd. 104, f. 52v. In addition to his patrimony, Savage inherited property in Suffolk from his maternal grandmother, including Melford Hall, a substantial house near the Essex border.37 Savage Fortune, pp. xvi, xxiii. Moreover, his wife became co-heir to her father, Thomas Darcy^*, 3rd Lord Darcy of Chiche (later 1st earl Rivers) on the death of her only brother in 1612. However, after his death George Garrard^‡, who estimated the value of Savage’s estates at £2,500 a year, reported that Savage had accumulated debts of £14,000, and that his wife and son owed a further £16,000 between them.38 Strafforde Letters (1739) ed. W. Knowler, i. 489.

One reason why Savage got into financial difficulties was probably the survival of his mother, who lived as long as he did - they were buried on the same day – and so possessed a significant part of the Savage estates in jointure.39 Savage Fortune, p. xvii. A further factor was no doubt the expense of a long career at court; he was described as a gentleman of the Privy Chamber as early as 1605. (In an undated petition, probably written in the early 1630s, his wife, by then a prominent member of Henrietta Maria’s household, claimed that her husband had served Charles for nearly 20 years, that his income was less than £2,000 a year, and that her own attendance at court cost £1,200 a year.)40 CSP Dom. 1633-4, p. 378. A final factor accounting for his indebtedness was the cost of securing his right to inherit his father-in-law’s estate. There was a danger that the Darcy estate would revert to the crown if the male line failed and consequently in 1613 Savage paid the king’s favourite Robert Carr^*, Viscount Rochester (later earl of Somerset) £24,000 to establish his wife’s right to inherit part of those lands. He also received a patent, on 8 Oct. 1613, granting him the Darcy barony on his father-in-law’s death.41 Chamberlain Letters, i. 489; 47th DKR, 102. In the event, he never lived long enough to inherit either the Darcy lands or title.

In 1615 Savage succeeded his father, who had purchased a baronetcy, inheriting a powerful position in Cheshire and the city of Chester, where his father had served as mayor and where Savage himself became an alderman.42 CB, i. 27. Although Savage does not seem to have played any role in the county’s parliamentary elections, he certainly sought to influence those held in the city. In November 1620 he nominated his illegitimate half-brother, John Savage^‡ of Barrow, for one of the Chester seats in the forthcoming third Jacobean Parliament. At the same time he informed the mayor that, although he had assured Sir John Bingley^‡ of his support for the other seat, he had since been approached by ‘Mr Parkesson’ (probably the ‘John Parkynson gent.’ made free of Chester in 1606), whom he described as ‘very serviceable and worthy’ and left the choice ‘to your wise consideration’. In fact none of the candidates Savage mentioned were returned. John Savage was not elected until 1624, by which date he was an alderman, and there is no evidence that Savage intervened on his behalf. He was re-elected in 1625.43 Harl. 2105, f. 285; Cal. Chester City Mins. 26, 97, 119; Harl. 2125, ff. 57v-8, 60. In HP Commons, 1604-29, ii. 44 the 1624-5 MP is incorrectly identified as Sir Thomas Savage’s eldest son John.

Despite his financial problems, Savage was frequently called upon to handle the affairs of his friends and relations, leading the newsletter-writer George Garrard^‡ to describe him as ‘the great commissioner, the great director in other men’s estates’.44 Savage Fortune, p. xxx; Strafforde Letters, i. 489. It is likely that in 1620 Savage was asked by his second cousin, Francis Manners^*, 6th earl of Rutland, to help negotiate the marriage of Rutland’s daughter to George Villiers^*, marquess (later 1st duke) of Buckingham, who had succeeded Somerset as James I’s favourite. After Buckingham’s death, Lionel Cranfield^*, 1st earl of Middlesex, told the duke’s widow that ‘had it not been for my advice, fortified with reasons on the one side [with Buckingham] and the now Lord Savage his discretion and stoutness on the other, [with Rutland] I may truly affirm you had never been the duke’s wife’.45 R. Davis, Greatest House at Chelsey, 133; Savage Fortune, p. xxxii. See also Kent Hist. and Lib. Cent. U269/1/Oo70. Savage subsequently became one of the managers of Buckingham’s estate and executors.46 Wills from Doctors Commons ed. J.G. Nichols and J. Bruce (Cam. Soc. lxxxiii), 91. Chamberlain attributed Darcy’s promotion to Viscount Colchester in July 1621 to Savage, who secured the reversion to this title after his father-law’s death. It was presumably Savage’s connection with Buckingham that had brought it about.47 Chamberlain Letters, ii. 387.

In January 1622 the Spanish ambassador, Gondomar, reported that he had induced Prince Charles (Stuart^*, prince of Wales) to appoint Savage to his council, even though Savage was a known Catholic who had refused to take the oath of allegiance.48 S.R. Gardiner, Hist. of Eng. iv. 368-9. It is perhaps more likely that it was Buckingham who was responsible for Savage’s advancement. Nevertheless, Savage was certainly a Catholic, as he was included in the petitions of the Commons against Catholic officeholders in 1624 and 1626.49 LJ, iii. 395b; J. Rushworth, Historical Collections, i. 397. However, adherence to the Catholic faith did not prevent him from being a friend of John Bridgeman^*, bishop of Chester, or indeed from offering to pay for a stained glass window depicting the nativity in Chester Cathedral.50 Savage Fortune, 47-8. See also Ibid. 50, 53. Savage was also on good terms with Lewis Bayly^*, bishop of Bangor, whose fourth wife was his cousin.51 NLW, Carreglwyd III/10; Vis. Cheshire (Harl. Soc. lix), 206; LEWIS BAYLY. Moreover, in the summer of 1626 Savage seems to have promised the anti-Calvinist, Richard Montagu^* (subsequently bishop of Norwich) that he and Rutland would lobby Buckingham to secure a bishopric for Montagu.52 Corresp. of John Cosin ed. G. Ornsby (Surtees Soc. lii), 103. Savage’s friends also included the Suffolk puritan Sir Simonds D’Ewes^‡, whom he helped when D’Ewes was threatened with prosecution for infringing the proclamations against staying in London.53 Harl. 287, f. 289.

In May 1626 it was widely reported that Savage would be raised to the peerage to strengthen Buckingham’s position in the upper House.54 Procs. 1626, iv. 289; HMC 4th Rep. 289; NLW, 9061E/1415. However, nothing came of this rumour, possibly because the standing orders of the upper House dictated that all lords had to take the oath of allegiance, which Savage had previously refused.55 HMC Lords, n.s. x. 2, 8. Nevertheless, he did become increasingly prominent in the summer of 1626. In July he was appointed to an important commission charged with finding ways of reducing the crown’s expenditure and increasing its revenue. The following month it was reported that he had been made chancellor to Henrietta Maria. He seems not to have taken up the appointment until 1628, but his wife was certainly appointed to the queen’s bedchamber at this time.56 Birch, i. 136; Savage Fortune, p. xl. In September he was named to another important government commission, concerning the sale of crown lands and, at the end of the following month, the attorney general was ordered to draw up a patent to make Savage a viscount. The same patent, issued on 4 Nov., created Savage’s father-in-law Earl Rivers, with a remainder to Savage for lack of male heirs. It has been suggested that the Rivers title was chosen by Savage because he was descended from the fifteenth-century earls Rivers.57 Savage Fortune, 44; P.W. Montague-Smith, ‘Earldom of Rivers’, N and Q, cxcix. 198-9. Later that month, reporting Savage’s creation, Rivers’ friend and kinsman, John Holles^*, 1st earl of Clare, described Savage as a ‘useful man’.58 Holles Letters ed. P.R. Seddon (Thoroton Soc. xxxv), 338.

It seems likely that Savage was elevated not only because of his increased prominence since the summer but also to prepare him for his role in helping to collect the Forced Loan. By 12 Nov. it had been decided to send him to Suffolk to initiate the raising of this levy. As he was not a privy councillor (presumably because of his open Catholicism), a peerage may have been thought necessary to give him the necessary status.59 Procs 1628, p. 33. In fact, Savage was sent in February 1627 not to Suffolk but to Cheshire. In his native shire he ensured the success of the Loan by playing the city off against the county. Many in the county were initially reluctant to pay, but eventually the taxpayers of Chester ‘subscribed, all but one man’, after Savage promised them that this would bring them favour. He gave Buckingham an opportunity to show the practical benefits of the city’s co-operation by forwarding a petition from Chester merchants for the restitution of their goods, which were found in a French ship seized at Beaumaris. Buckingham, acting in his capacity as lord admiral, acquiesced to their request, and the county soon fell into line. The city also took the opportunity to win Savage to their side in their quarrel with their town clerk - Savage subsequently secured the Privy Council’s approval for the clerk’s removal – although this may not have been difficult, as it was alleged that Savage had had a longstanding grudge against the clerk who, some years earlier, had refused his request to resign his post in favour of one of Savage’s servants.60 R. Cust, Forced Loan, 121-2; Savage Fortune, 45-6; Cal. Chester City Mins. 143; SP16/98/111. Despite his adherence to Buckingham, Savage may have been sceptical of the wisdom of some of the duke’s policies, particularly the Île de Ré expedition. Writing to Middlesex on 25 Aug., he reported contradictory rumours about the success of the venture, contrasting the optimism of the court with the pessimism in London concluding, ‘I pray God to deliver our good duke from these uncertain courses’.61 Kent Hist. and Lib. Cent. U269/1/CP99.

Savage was in good health and active in early 1628, when he attempted to mediate between Buckingham and John Digby^*, 1st earl of Bristol.62 Savage Fortune, 52; Stowe 365, ff. 99-100. Nevertheless, in March, he obtained a dispensation from attending the forthcoming third Caroline Parliament, procured by Buckingham, presumably to avoid being obliged to take the oath of allegiance. He attended the first two sittings, on 17 and 19 Mar., but not subsequently. His leave of absence was recorded when the House was called on 22 Mar., as was the fact that he had sent his proxy, which he gave to Rutland.63 SO3/9, unfol. (14 Mar. 1628); Lords Procs. 1628, pp. 26, 87. The only other occasion Savage appears in the records of the upper House for the 1628 session was in connection with the petition of Sir Francis Coningsby. The latter made a complaint against the trustees appointed by his deceased father for mismanaging properties entrusted to them in Hertfordshire and Middlesex. On 31 May the Lords ordered the old trustees to assign part of the estate to new ones, including Savage (although he had no known connection with Coningsby) and, on 23 June, they agreed that the remainder of the property should be administered by the old and new trustees jointly.64 Lords Procs. 1628, pp. 571-2, 689. Savage was again presented as a Catholic officeholder by the Commons.65 CD 1628, iv. 323.

In the aftermath of Buckingham’s assassination on 23 Aug., Savage’s wife lamented that she had ‘lost so worthy a friend … that I am unfit for any company’. Savage himself was hastily summoned to London to grapple with the duke’s estate, which was beset by massive debts.66 Savage Fortune, 55; Birch, i. 397. In October Clare reported the ‘conjunction’ between the lord treasurer, Richard Weston^*, Lord Weston (later 1st earl of Portland), Savage and William Laud^*, bishop of London (subsequently archbishop of Canterbury).67 Holles Letters ed. P.R. Seddon (Thoroton Soc. xxxvi), 518. In fact Savage was probably already well acquainted with Weston; they were both part of the network of Catholics and crypto-Catholics which included Thomas Howard, 21st (or 14th) earl of Arundel, on whose behalf Savage had intervened at the revenue commission in January 1627.68 RICHARD WESTON; Univ. London, Goldsmiths’ ms 195/2, ff. 42v-3. Moreover, his father-in-law had wanted Weston to stand for one of the Essex seats in 1628 and it is likely it had been Weston who had ensured the return of Savage’s cousin, Edward Savage^‡ for Midhurst, in the election to the 1628-9 Parliament.69 Procs 1628, p. 146; HP Commons, 1604-29, ii. 416. There is no evidence that Savage attended the 1629 session; he was recorded as absent when the upper House was called on 9 Feb., and again granted his proxy to Rutland.70 LJ, iv. 3a, 25b.

Savage may have played an important part in the appointment of William Noye^‡ as attorney general in 1631. James Howell^‡, who stated that Savage had formerly employed Noye as steward of his courts, was ‘confident he [Noye] had never been attorney’ had it not been for Savage.71 J. Howell, Epistolae Ho-Elianae ed. J. Jacob (1892), i. 319. In 1610 Savage had granted Noye an annuity as a retaining fee. CSP Dom. 1603-10, p. 633. However, there is no other evidence of Savage’s political influence.

Savage died suddenly in November 1635, at his London home on Tower Hill.72 Works of Abp. Laud ed. J. Bliss, vii. 206. The king, learning of his illness, sent the courtier Sir Frederick Cornwallis^† (subsequently 1st Lord Cornwallis) to him ‘in a great deal of haste’, but Cornwallis reported that ‘for all my speed, I found him dead before I came’.73 Private Corresp. of Jane Lady Cornwallis Bacon ed. J. Moody, 244. Thomas Wentworth^*, Viscount Wentworth (later 1st earl of Strafford) was informed that Savage ‘had an universal gout [which] took him all over his body’ causing ‘a strong fever, which in less than ten days ended him’. Wentworth also learned that the death had caused ‘much grief at court’.74 Strafforde Letters, i. 489. Savage’s entrails were promptly buried in the chancel of the local parish church, but the rest of his body was taken to Macclesfield, where it was buried with his ancestors on 16 December.75 Savage Fortune, 74; St. Olave Hart Street (Harl. Soc. Reg. xlvi), 168; W. Dugdale, Baronage of Eng. iii. 446. Having died intestate, administration of his estate was granted to his widow on 7 December.76 PROB 6/15, f. 138. His eldest son, John, succeeded as the 2nd Viscount, becoming Earl Rivers on the death of his maternal grandfather in 1640.