Ellen Legh

Biography

Ellen Savage was born about 1455. She was a daughter of John Savage and Katherine Stanley.[1]. Ellen died at Bewganet, Sussex, on 17 May, 1491.[1]

Ellen Savage and Peter Legh, Knt. of Lyme, Cheshire, were married 1467, by dispensation.[1] He was the son of Peter/Piers Legh of Lyme and Mabel Croft, daughter of James.[1] He was born about 1455.[1]

She and Sir Piers Legh, Knight & priest, Steward of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale, & Clitheroe obtained a marriage license in 1467; Date of Dispensation. They had 4 sons (Peter, John, Gowther, & Richard) and 3 daughters (including Margaret & Alice).4,1

The children of Peter Legh and Ellen Savage were:

1. Peter/Piers, Esq;
2. John;
3. Gowther;
4. Richard;
5. Margaret, married Lawrence Warren;
6. Alice, married unknown White; and
7. unknown.

Peter became a priest in 1511.[1]

Supporting data

Ellen was born into the ancient and noble family of Savage. The Savage family were important Cheshire landowners from the late 1370s, when the family acquired lands at Clifton by the marriage of John Savage (d. 1386) to Margaret Danyers.[1] Sir John Savage (d. 1597/8) was the seneschal of Halton Castle, and also served at various times as a member of parliament for Cheshire, mayor of Chester and High Sheriff of Cheshire.[1][2] Rocksavage was built for him on a hillside overlooking the River Weaver. Started in around 1565, the house was completed in 1568.[3][4][5][6] Rocksavage was one of the great Elizabethan "prodigy houses" of Cheshire.[7][8] Hearth-tax assessments of 1674 show that it was the second largest house in the county, its fifty hearths being surpassed only by Cholmondeley House.[9] An early 17th century description praised the mansion's "magnificent fabric".[10] The medieval family seat of Clifton Hall stood nearby, and was retained as farm and service buildings.[2][9]
James I dined at Rocksavage with his retinue on 21 August 1617 on his way to Vale Royal Abbey and Chester.[10] During the Civil War, John Savage, Earl Rivers, declared for the royalist side. Rocksavage was ransacked by parliamentarian forces, and the roof and part of the walls were destroyed.[8] The first Duke of Monmouth stayed at Rocksavage on 13 September 1682 as a guest of Thomas Savage, Earl Rivers, while touring Cheshire to assess support for a faction opposed to Charles II.[2][11] The estate passed by marriage to James Barry, Earl of Barrymore, in the early 18th century.[12] Further buildings were constructed higher up the hill by the Earl of Barrymore, possibly by the architect Henry Sephton.[4] Now known as Clifton Hall, these might have been intended as a replacement for Rocksavage or as service buildings for the main mansion.[3][4] A few years after these buildings were erected, Rocksavage was abandoned when the Barrymore heiress married into the Cholmondeley family and the principal seat of the joint estate became Cholmondeley House.[4][12][13] (The marquesses of Cholmondeley retain "Earl of Rocksavage" as a courtesy title for the heir.[14]%29 The empty house soon decayed and was already in ruins by 1782.[3][13]www.findagrave.com

Lady Ellen Savage Legh
BIRTH 1460
DEATH 17 May 1491 (aged 30–31)
BURIAL
Bewgenet Chapel
Fittleworth, Chichester District, West Sussex, England
MEMORIAL ID 138131718

Family Members
Parents
John Savage
1422–1495
Katherine Stanley Savage
1430–1498

Spouse
Piers Legh
1453–1527

Siblings
Dulcie Savage Bold
Margaret Trafford
Margaret Savage Trafford
Katharine Savage Legh
John Savage
1450–1492
Christopher Savage
1471–1513

Children
Margaret Legh Warren
1483–1531

Legh of Lyme & Haydock, (Baines, 1836) < GoogleBooks >

References

1. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Savage-665
   1. Douglas Richardson, ‘’Plantagenet Ancestry:A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families,’’ 2nd edition, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author 2011), Vol. II, p 394, LEGH #13.
   2. Harleian Society. The Visitation of Cheshire in the Year 1580, The Publications of The Harleian Society (London: The Society, 1882) Vol. 18, Page 153. < GoogleBooks >