Savage Families in the County of Sussex: in England

The origin of Major Thomas Savage (d.1682), of Boston, in Massachusetts, North America, has been highly controversial over the last hundred years. He has been believed to have originated from Taunton, in Devon, and also from Rock Savage, in Cheshire. Lawrence Park in his article “The Savage Family,” as one of the “Old Boston Families” in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register (vol.67), alluded to his origin as possibly being from the County of Sussex in England. From an analysis of the parish records of Sussex and other documents, it has been established that he originated from one of the Savage families residing in the county town of Lewes, in Sussex, in the early 1600s. The details of the descent of his Savage family of Lewes are described in this book, which outlines the descents of all the known Savage families of Sussex from c.1066 to c.1920. The earliest known Savage family of Sussex was of the Mainline Savage (le Sauvage) family who were from Normandy, in France, and arrived during the reign of William the Conqueror. They were granted lands in Broadwater (in Worthing), Durrington, Lancing, Sompting, Ashington, Buncton and further lands which were all in the County of Sussex. The Mainline family remained in Sussex until c.1253 after which time they moved to the manor of Stainsby, in Derbyshire. Other Savage families also occurred in Sussex, from as early as the 1100s to the 1400s, some of whom maybe connected or related to the first Mainline le Sauvage family of Broadwater. However, due to the scarcity of documents, the details of the descent of these families is limited. However, when Parish Registers were instituted in 1538, more information about families in general became available, and a substantial number of the Savage families of Sussex have been derived. Between about 1500 and 1700, four relatively complete Savage families appear to have existed in Sussex, and amongst these, there was a very substantial Savage family located in Chailey and Lewes and surrounding villages, who probably existed well before 1500, possibly going back several centuries. Between about 1700 and 1900, a further five relatively complete Savage families also existed in Sussex. One of these originated from Kent, whilst another originated from Hampshire, and established a very extensive family at Westbourne, in Sussex. The exact origins of the other three families are unknown, but they probably descended from other Savage families within Sussex. Savage families and members of various Savage families have been found in about 139 towns and villages within Sussex, and they are given in this book. Many of them entered the County of Sussex from elsewhere, while others moved away from the county.