Sir John Savile, MP, of Methley

John Savile (died 1607)

Not to be confused with John Savile, 1st Baron Savile of Pontefract.

Sir John Savile (1546–1607) was an English lawyer and judge.

He was the eldest son of Henry Savile of Bradley, North Yorkshire, by his wife Elizabeth, only daughter of Robert Ramsden; Sir Henry Savile and Thomas Savile were younger brothers. He matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1561, but did not graduate.[1] To avoid the plague in 1563, he remained in Bradley, where he studied law books on his own.[2]

Savile entered the Middle Temple, where he was autumn reader in 1586. In 1572 he was elected member of parliament for Newton, Lancashire.[1] His candidacy has been attributed to friendship with William Fleetwood; another friend and parliamentarian was Henry Gates.[2]

Savile practised in the exchequer court, and in 1594 he was made serjeant-at-law. In 1598 he became baron of the exchequer on Lord Burghley's recommendation. In 1599 he was placed on a commission for suppressing heresy. He was knighted by James I on 3 July 1603, and in 1604 was made chief justice of the county palatine of Lancaster.[1]

In November 1606 Savile was one of the barons of the exchequer who decided that the king could by royal prerogative levy impositions on imports and exports.[1] He had consistently supported the common law courts against the prerogative in his earlier judicial career, however.[2] He died on 2 February 1606–7, and was buried in St. Dunstan's-in-the-West, London; his heart was taken to Methley in Yorkshire, in the church of which a monument, with an inscription, was erected to his memory. Like other members of his family, Savile was a friend of William Camden, whom he entertained at Bradley in August 1599. He was also an original member of the College of Antiquaries.[1]

The only published work by Savile is the collection of Reports of cases tried in the exchequer court, edited (1675) by John Robertson.[1]

Savile was four times married:[1]

1. to Jane, daughter of Richard Garth of Morden, Surrey, by whom he had issue a son Henry, and two daughters;

2. to Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Wentworth of North Elmsall, Yorkshire, by whom he had issue John (died 1651), who was heir to his half-brother Henry, and great-grandfather of John Savile, 1st Earl of Mexborough (1720–1778);

3. to Dorothy, daughter of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Baron Wentworth (died 1551), and widow of Sir W. Widmerpoole and then of Sir Martin Frobisher; and

4. to Margery, daughter of Ambrose Peake, and widow of Sir Jerome Weston.

By his last two wives, Savile had no issue.[1]

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Savile_(died_1607)

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• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 50
• Savile, John (1545-1607) by Albert Frederick Pollard
• SAVILE, Sir JOHN (1545–1607), judge, born in 1545, was the eldest son of Henry Savile of Bradley, Yorkshire, by his wife Elizabeth, only daughter of Robert Ramsden. Sir Henry Savile (1549–1622) [q. v.], provost of Eton, was a younger brother. He must be distinguished from John Savile, first baron Savile of Pontefract [q. v.] John matriculated from Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1561, but did not graduate, and entered the Middle Temple, where he was autumn reader in 1586. In 1572 he was elected member of parliament for Newton, Lancashire. He practised in the exchequer court, and in 1594 he was made serjeant-at-law. In 1598 he became baron of the exchequer on Burghley's recommendation. In 1599 he was placed on a commission for suppressing heresy. He was knighted by James I on 3 July 1603, and in 1604 was made chief justice of the county palatine of Lancaster. In November 1606 he was one of the barons of the exchequer who decided that the king was ‘entitled by his sole prerogative to levy impositions upon imports and exports,’ a decision that has been received by posterity with universal disfavour (Gardiner, ii. 6). Savile died on 2 Feb. 1606–7, and was buried in the church of St. Dunstan's-in-the-West, London; his heart was conveyed to Methley in Yorkshire, in the church of which a handsome monument, with an inscription, was erected to his memory.
• Savile was four times married: first, to Jane, daughter of Richard Garth of Morden, Surrey, by whom he had issue Henry Savile (see below) and two daughters; secondly, to Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Wentworth of North Elmsall, Yorkshire, by whom he had issue John (d. 1651), who was heir to his half-brother Henry, and great-grandfather of John Savile, first earl of Mexborough (1720–1778); thirdly, to Dorothy, daughter of Thomas, first baron Wentworth (d. 1551), and widow of Sir W. Widmerpoole and then of Sir Martin Frobisher [q. v.]; and fourthly, to Margery, daughter of Ambrose Peake, citizen of London, and widow of Sir Jerome Weston. By the last two Savile had no issue.
• Like several other members of his family, Savile was an intimate friend of Camden, whom he entertained at Bradley in August 1599 (Gent. Mag. 1852, i. 270, 271). One of his letters to Camden, pointing out errors in the ‘Britannia,’ is printed in ‘Camdeni et Illustrium Virorum Epistolæ,’ 1691, 4to, pp. 36–9. Savile was himself an original member of the Society of Antiquaries, founded by Archbishop Parker in 1572, and is said by Wood to have left behind him ‘certain things fit for the press;’ but the only published work of his is the collection of ‘Reports’ of cases tried in the exchequer court, edited (1675, fol.) by John Robertson, with a preface containing a poor account of him and his family (cf. Bridgman, Legal Bibliography, p. 297; Wallace, Reporters, 1855, p. 142). The judge must be distinguished from a contemporary John Savile, ‘a great pretender to poetry,’ who published ‘King James his entertainment at Theobalds, with his welcome to London, and a salutatory Poem,’ London, 1603, 4to, which Halliwell erroneously styles a play (Wood, Athenæ Oxon. i. 774; Fleay, English Drama, ii. 175).
• Sir Henry Savile (1579–1632), the eldest son, born in 1579, matriculated from Merton College, Oxford, on 4 Feb. 1583–4, but left without a degree, entering Middle Temple in 1593. He was knighted at the coronation of James I, on 23 July 1603, and created a baronet on 29 June 1611. He represented Aldborough in parliament from 1604 to 1611, and again in 1614. Before 1627 he became vice-president of the council of the north, serving under Wentworth. In the following year he was sheriff of Yorkshire, and in 1629 was knight of the shire in parliament. He died on 23 June 1632, having married Mary, daughter of John Dent, citizen of London, by whom he had three sons, all of whom predeceased him without issue. The baronetcy consequently expired on his death. His widow married Sir William Sheffield.
• [Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1581–1610; Hunter's Antiquarian Notices of Lupset; Official Return of Members of Parliament; Wood's Athenæ Oxon. i. 773–4; Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1500–1714; Lodge's Peerage of Ireland, iii. 162–3; Wotton's Baronetage, i. 153; Burke's Extinct Baronetage and Extinct Peerage; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees; Notes and Queries, 1st ser. v. 366; Forster's Life of Strafford (sometimes ascribed to Robert Browning), 1892, p. 70; Foss's Lives of the Judges.]
• From: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Savile,_John_(1545-1607)_(DNB00)
• https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofnati50stepuoft#page/371/mode... to https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofnati50stepuoft#page/372/mode... ______________________________
• SAVILE, John I (1546-1607), of Bradley and Methley, Yorks.
• b. 26 Mar. 1546, 1st s. of Henry Savile of Bradley, and bro. of Henry Savile II. educ. Brasenose, Oxf. 1561, ?BA 1563; Clement’s Inn 1564; M. Temple 1565, called 1573, bencher and Autumn reader 1586, serjeant-at-law 1594. m. (1) 1575, Jane, da. of Richard Garth of Morden, Surr., 1s. 2da.; (2) 1587, Elizabeth, da. of Thomas Wentworth of Elmsall, wid. of Richard Tempest of Bowling, 1s. 2da.; (3,) 1594, Dorothy, da. of Thomas Wentworth†, 1st Baron Wentworth of Nettlestead, wid. of Paul Wythypole of Ipswich, Suff. and of Sir Martin Frobisher; (4) 1603, Margery, da. of Ambrose Peake of London, wid. of Sir Jerome Weston of Essex and of one Thwaites of London. suc. fa. 1566. Kntd. 1603.1
• Offices Held
  • J.p. co. Dur. and Hexhamshire from c.1576, q. 1583; commr. eccles. causes, diocese of Durham 1576-7; j.p. Yorks. (W. Riding) from c.1580, q. 1583; justice oyer and terminer, N. circuit 1580-1; commr. subsidy, Yorks. (W. Riding) 1582; baron of the Exchequer 1598, justice of assize, N. circuit 1598; cj. Lancaster 1598, member, northern high commission 1599, council in the north 1599; commr. chancellorship of duchy of Lancaster 1599-1601; j.p.q. Cumb., Northumb., Westmld. 1601.2
  • Member, Antiq. Soc. c.1591.
• Biography
• By the sixteenth century the Savile family had many branches in Yorkshire. Savile himself belonged to a younger branch of the Saviles of Copley. In his autobiography he relates that he received his early education from neighbouring clergymen at Elland and Huddersfield, with whom he read the classics before going up to Oxford in 1561. He remained there for two years. His statement that he graduated BA is unsupported. In the summer of 1563, he returned to Bradley to avoid the plague and there devoted himself to the reading of Littleton’s Tenures, the statutes, Rastall’s Abbreviamenta, the year books of Richard III, Henry VII and Henry VIII. Thus prepared, he entered Clement’s Inn in October 1564, removing to the Middle Temple four months later. He maintained his connexion with the Middle Temple for the rest of his life and in such a manner that in 1600 his ‘great favours to the House’ were acknowledged. While still there he was returned to Parliament for Newton, Lancashire, presumably through his friendship with William Fleetwood I, the recorder of London and steward of the borough, whose wife stood godmother to Savile’s eldest daughter in 1577. Another influential friend was Sir Henry Gates, who called him ‘my assured good friend and faithful counsellor’ and left him an annuity of £5 ‘for his great pains on my behalf for my causes in law’. Gates was godparent to Savile’s eldest son, together with Sir William Cordell, master of the rolls, and the wife of Robert Monson, one of the justices of common pleas. Savile was present during all three sessions of the 1572 Parliament, but his recorded activity covers only 1576 and 1581. On 24 Feb. 1576 he sat on a committee for a bill for the explanation of the statute against dilapidations; on 1 Mar. on committees for four bills about clothiers and cloth; on 12 Mar. he was appointed to the committee for the restitution in blood of Lord Stourton, and the next day to the committee considering the relief of vicars and curates. On 13 Feb. 1581, he was one of those to whom the bill against the inordinate selling of wool and yarn was committed.3
• In February 1573 Savile was called to the bar and in the summer of 1574 he extended his practice to the northern circuit. Two years later he received his first public appointments, becoming an ecclesiastical commissioner for Durham. His legal practice must already have been prosperous, for soon afterwards he began rebuilding his house at Bradley, which was finished in the summer of 1580. From this time he resided mainly in Yorkshire, still continuing, however, his London practice, and in 1586 he was made a bencher of the Middle Temple upon his appointment as autumn reader. In August he delivered 15 lectures on the statute of 1 Edward VI, cap. 14, on the dissolution of colleges.
• Savile’s legal practice in Yorkshire soon brought him into conflict with the council in the north, where attempts to enforce the statutes against regrators and wool gatherers, and against frauds in cloth making, which the Yorkshire clothiers found restrictive, aroused the opposition of the West Riding justices of the peace, who were encouraged by Savile to deny the council’s authority. Savile was not disinterested. As a common lawyer he resented prerogative jurisdiction and, like John Savile of Howley, he no doubt had clothing interests himself. He therefore insisted that offences against the penal statutes could only be dealt with by the common law process of inquest and verdict by a jury. It has been suggested that Savile’s elevation to the bench was an attempt to buy him off. But the obdurate justice who denied ship money in the West Riding in 1597-8 was in all probability his namesake, Sir John Savile of Howley, and there is no need to see Savile’s promotion in 1598 as due to anything but a combination of his own merits and the influence of his extensive legal connexions. In fact, as a justice of assize, Savile continued to imprison or bind over anyone who appealed to the council at York against the assize justices or the justices of the peace. During the summer assizes of 1600 and 1601 he supported his colleague, Christopher Yelverton, who advanced his own and Savile’s authority over the other members of the council.4
• Savile’s attitude toward the execution of penal statutes was maintained into the new reign and in 1604 he was one of the judges who advised James I that their prosecution and execution could not be granted away. However, he was only irrevocably opposed to the prerogative when it involved a conflict of jurisdiction with the common law courts, for in 1606 he was one of the judges who decided that the King could levy import and export duties by prerogative alone, without a parliamentary grant.5
• Savile’s interests were not confined to his profession. In 1593 he finished building his new house at Methley, near Leeds, about 20 miles from Bradley. In religion he inclined toward puritanism and was an active and ‘singular patron of preachers of God’s word’ in Yorkshire. He is said to have endowed a large number of charities there, but only the foundation of chapels at Bradley and Methley, an interest in the rebuilding of a chapel at Rastrick and a gift of £5 to the recently founded Halifax grammar school, have been traced to him. He numbered prominent puritans among his friends: Robert Monson and William Fleetwood, both members of the puritan ‘choir’ in the House of Commons. Like Fleetwood, Savile was active in seeking out recusants, especially in his capacity as a judge of assize in the north. In 1604 he was alleged to have expressly directed a grand jury at Manchester that persons attending mass celebrated by a Jesuit or seminary priest were guilty of felony. Savile died at Serjeants’ Inn 2 Feb. 1607 and was buried at St. Dunstan’s-in-the-West, his heart being removed to the church at Methley, where he had lived since 1593.6
• Except where otherwise stated his biography is based on ‘Autobiog. of Sir John Savile’, Yorks. Arch. Jnl. xv. 420-42.
• From: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/sa...

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From pge 117 of A Popular History of the Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth, at Heath, Near ... By Thomas Cox

(2.) John Savile was the eldest son of Henry Savile, of Bradley in Stainland, and Ellen Ramsden. He was born in 1545, and sent to Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1561. He left it without taking a Degree, going to the Inner Temple in London to study the Law. He became Sergeant of Law in 1594, was made a member of the Council of the North, which had its Head quarters at York, and was appointed Baron of the Exchequer in 1598. Though interested more than others in the foundation of our School, he was taken away from the neighbourhood so much by his public duties, without having any one to feel the interest in the School which he himself felt, that his laudable desires were on the point of failure; and all the efforts made and the expense incurred would have been in vain, had it not been for the zealous co-operation of Dr. Favour, in whom he seems to have placed the greatest confidence. He had collected together a most influential body of Governors, his neighbours and friends, but, for some cause or other, they were incapable of joint action. ____________________

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