Savage Families in the County of Derbyshire II : Eckington: and Mansfield, Nottinghamshire

The Savage family of Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, flourished in the town from 1686 to 1914. However, before 1686, they originated from the village of Eckington, in Derbyshire, which is about 12 miles north of Mansfield. This book is entitled the “Savage Families of Derbyshire II : Eckington,” reflecting their known origin from Eckington, in Derbyshire. The Savage family of Eckington can be traced back to Richard Savage, yeoman (b.c.1515-d.1675), who was known to reside there from at least 1538. From a large amount of evidence obtained from original documents, the Savage family of Eckington without any doubt descended from the Mainline Savage family of Rock Savage, in Clifton, Cheshire. Although there are three clear candidates, it is not known with certainty as to which member of the Mainline Savage family the first Richard Savage descended from. The Mainline Savage family and some of their cadet branches are known to have resided at the Manor of Stainsby, in Derbyshire, from c.1250 to c.1590. Stainsby was once the main manorial seat of the Mainline Savage Family of Rock Savage, and lies about three miles north-west of Mansfield. Within the estates of Stainsby lies Hardwick Hall, which was held by the Hardwick family in tenancy from the Mainline Savages. However, Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury, bought the Stainsby estates in c.1593 from the Mainline Savages and built her famous new Hall of Glass at Hardwick. Godfrey Bosville, Esq. (d.1580), the husband of Bess of Hardwick’s sister, Jane Hardwick, was the godfather of Godfrey Savage (b.1565), of Eckington, who was a known kinsman of the first known member of the Savage family of Eckington, Richard Savage (b.c.1515-d.1575), who was almost certainly the grandfather of Godfrey Savage. The second godfather of Godfrey Savage (b.1565), was Robert Blount, Gent. (d.1580), who was one of the Stewards of the Earl of Shrewsbury, and resided in Eckington, Derbyshire. Bessie Blount was the niece of Robert Blount, Gent., and she became the mistress of King Henry VIII, and by the King she had issue of a son, Henry Fitzroy, who was created the Duke of Richmond and Somerset (b.1519-d.1536), and was the only illegitimate child who Henry VIII acknowledged. Most of the documentary evidence suggests that the first Richard Savage (b.c.1515-d.1575), of Eckington in Derbyshire, was probably the illegitimate son of Sir John VII Savage, Kt. (b.c.1492-d.1528), of the Mainline who was known to have carried out duties as the Deputy Steward of the Wapentake of Scarsdale in north-east Derbyshire in which area, the villages and towns of Eckington, Stainsby and Chesterfield (the administrative centre of the Wapentake), are located. Sir John VII Savage, Kt., was also known to have resided at Stainsby in the 1520s, when four glass windows depicting himself and his wife and children were erected in the parish church of Stainsby. The history of the Savage family of Eckington and Mansfield appears to occur in three parts : firstly, they were in Eckington, Derbyshire, from c.1538 to c.1750 ; secondly, two branches moved from Eckington to Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, where they resided from 1686 to 1914 ; and thirdly, various branches established themselves in other parts of England such as Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Lancashire, London, Middlesex, Norfolk, Sussex, and Yorkshire, and also abroad in the countries of Australia, Canada, China, New Zealand, and the USA.