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.1510-d.1575), 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. 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, acquired 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.1510-d.1575), who was 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 Earls 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.1510-d.1575), of Eckington in Derbyshire, was probably the son of Robert (I) Savage, gent. (b.c.1475-d.c.1513), of Bakewell and Chapel en le Frith in the High Peak of Derbyshire, who was certainly a member of the Mainline Savage family and was most probably the illegitimate son of Sir John V Savage, K.G. (b.c.1442-d.1492), who was the King's Steward of the High Peak, and also one of the three main commanders of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. 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.