MEXBOROUGH, Rt Hon 8th Earl of 1931-2026
Richard R
From the Telegraph of 19 June 2026: MEXBOROUGH John Christopher George Savile, 8th Earl of Mexborough died peacefully at home on Tuesday 16th June aged 95. Adored husband, father and grandfather. Private family funeral, a service of thanksgiving to be announced for the autumn.
He was s of 7 Earl of MEXBOROUGH 1906-80 and Josephine Bertha Emily 1908-92 d of Capt Andrew Mansel Talbot FLETCHER 1880-1950 scion of the Scots gentry family of Saltoun and Frances Jane 1880-1953 d of Sir Francis Salwey WINNINGTON 5 Bt 1849-1931 and Jane d 1940 d of Lord Alfred SPENCER-CHURCHILL 1824-93 (s of 6 Duke of MARLBOROUGH 1793-1857, etc) and Hon Harriet Louisa Hester GOUGH-CALTHORPE 1832-1901 d of 4 Baron CALTHORPE 1790-1868 and Lady Charlotte Sophia SOMERSET 1795-1865 d of 6 Duke of BEAUFORT 1766-1835 by his wife a dau of 1 Marquess of STAFFORD 1721-1803, etc etc.
He m first 1958 (div 1972) Lady Elizabeth Harriot GRIMSTON 1939-87 d of 6 Earl of VERULAM 1912-73 and Marjorie Ray DUNCAN d 1994, and had a son (Viscount Pollington who dvp sp 2024) and a dau. He m second 1972 Catherine Joyce b 1939 d of James Kenneth HOPE CBE 1896-1983 scion of that gentry family of West Park and Mary Joyce 1903-2004 d of Lt-Col (Richard) Rouse Boughton ORLEBAR 1862-1950 scion of that gentry family of Hinwick and Faith Henrietta BOURNE 1867-1951, and had a further son and a dau. His surviving son succeeds him.
JAMES HUGH HOPE JOHN Savile b 21 Aug 1976 9 Earl of MEXBOROUGH has yet to establish claim. He m 2010 Victoria Sian b 1979 reg Q3 Notts d of Nicholas FORMAN HARDY of Carl Colston, Notts, and had three sons.
SONS LIVING
ARTHUR JOHN HOPE THOMAS (Viscount Pollington) b 1 Dec 2011
Hon Ludovic Henry Nicholas Raphael b 7 Feb 2014
Hon Rory Alexander Louis Elwyn b 27 June 2017
Henry W
bx...@yahoo.com
colinp
The Earl of Mexborough, dashing adventurer whose Porsche beat the Orient Express in a race to Venice
He gave up his intrepid flying exploits to devote himself to supercars as well as collecting memorabilia from the Great American Songbook
The 8th Earl of Mexborough, who has died aged 95, was a Yorkshire landowner on a grand scale and a noted collector of Great American Songbook recordings and memorabilia; in earlier life he also collected classic supercars and was an intrepid private pilot.
John Christopher George Savile, the eldest of three children of the 7th Earl of Mexborough and his wife Josephine, née Fletcher, was born on May 16 1931 on the kitchen table of Margam Castle at Port Talbot, a baronial Victorian mansion inherited by his maternal grandfather, Captain Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, from Emily Charlotte Talbot, the heiress who developed the South Wales port into a thriving dock town. John was christened in Westminster Cathedral, the family being 19th-century converts to Roman Catholicism.
The earldom John would inherit on his father’s death in 1980 was created in 1766 for Sir John Savile, who had served as MP for Hedon in the East Riding. John descended from the second marriage of the 4th Earl to Agnes Raphael, who was of Armenian Jewish heritage; he assumed the courtesy title of Viscount Pollington on the death of his grandfather in 1945.
He spent much of his childhood – including the years of his father’s wartime service as ADC to the Governor of Bihar in India – with his mother at Captain Fletcher’s principal home, Saltoun Hall in East Lothian, and was a pupil at Craigflower prep school in Fife. From there, by his own account, he “scraped into Eton”, distinguishing himself only on the tennis court.
After National Service as a subaltern in the Grenadier Guards, including a year in Germany, Pollington went up in 1952 to read history at Worcester College, Oxford, where his tutor, the rather humourless Harry Pitt, once told him his essays were no better than “schoolboy” standard. But as a rare undergraduate car-owner, Pollington enjoyed his college days to the full until he was sent down after an incident at a variety show in which his party were accused of pelting the chorus line with bottle tops.
Next he went to the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester to learn land management and began to involve himself in the running of the family estates. These were at Methley, near Leeds, where land held by the family since the 15th century was the site of several coal mines; at Thorner, between Leeds and Wetherby; and Arden Hall at Hawnby on the North York moors, a sporting estate acquired by the 6th Earl in 1897.
That became the main family home after Methley Hall, suffering from mining subsidence, dry rot and damage from wartime army occupation, was demolished. The family’s original landholding at Pollington in the East Riding was sold in the 1960s [….]
Slim, elegant and fastidious, the softly spoken Mexborough was regarded by friends as the epitome of aristocratic cool. When occasionally persuaded to shoot, he would decline to raise his gun if he thought the birds too low.
In his last years, Mexborough turned to collecting rare books, with a preference for “proper first editions” of Evelyn Waugh, Oscar Wilde and George MacDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman novels.
Lord Mexborough married first, in 1958, Lady Elizabeth Hariot Grimston, daughter of the 6th Earl of Verulam. The marriage was dissolved in 1972, and that year he married Catherine Vivian, née Hope. She survives him with their daughter Lady Lucinda and their son Jamie, born in 1976, who succeeds him as the 9th Earl. The children of his first marriage, John (the former Lord Pollington) and Lady Alathea, both predeceased him.
Lord Mexborough, born May 16 1931, died June 16 2026
marquess
S. S.
S. S.
Sir John Savile, of Savile Hall, Yorks; mar the dau of Sir Simon de Rockley, and had issue,
Sir John Savile MP, of Ell and Yorks; MP for York 1384-85; Sheriff of Yorks 1380-81, 1388-89; mar and had a yst s,
Henry Savile; mar Elizabeth, dau and hrss of Simon Thornhill, of Thornhill, Yorks, and had issue,
1. Thomas (see Lineage of Savile, Marquesses of Halifax below).
2. Henry (see below).
3. Jennett.
The ygr s,
Henry Savile; mar ca 1403, Helen, dau and hrss of Thomas Copley, of Copley, Yorks, and had with other issue,
1. Sir John, was ancestor of,
1.1. John, of Copley, Yorks; mar Anne, dau of Sir George Palmer, of Naburn, Yorks; d ca 1644, leaving issue,
1.1.1. Sir John Savile, 1st Bt, of Copley, Yorkshire [E] (so cr 24 July 1662); b ca 1640; mar by 1663, Mary, dau of Clement Paston, of Barningham, Norfolk; dspm 1689, when the baronetcy became EXTINCT,
1.1.1.1. Elizabeth Mary; b ca 1663; mar Lord Thomas (d 1689), ygr bro of Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk KG (qv), and had issue.
2. Thomas (see below).
The ygr s,
Thomas Savile, of Hullinedge, Elland, Yorks; mar Anne, dau of John Stansfield, and had with 3 elder s,
Nicholas Savile, of New Hall, Yorks; mar Margaret/Margery, dau of William Wilkinson, and had with other issue,
John Savile, of New Hall, Yorks; mar Margery, dau of John Gleadhill, and had with 2 elder s and a yst s alongside 4 dau,
Henry Savile, of Bradley Hall, nr Halifax; mar Elizabeth/Ellen, dau of Robert Ramsden, and had with 5 dau,
1. John (see below).
2. Sir Henry Kt (30 Sept 1604), P; b 30 Nov 1594; educ Brasenose Coll Oxf (matric 1561); Fellow of Merton Coll Oxf 1565; Warden of Merton Coll Oxf; Provost of Eton 1596; tutored Elizabeth I in Greek; Envoy to the Low Countries; translator of several works from Greek to English including being one of the translators for the New Testament; mar Margaret, dau of George Dacres, of Cheshunt, Herts; dspms 19 Feb 1622 at Eton (MI at Merton Coll Chapel),
2.1. Elizabeth; mar 1613, Sir John Sedley, 2nd Bt, of Ailesford, Kent (d 1638), and had with 2 elder s,
2.1.1. Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Bt, of Ailesford; b March 1639; noted for his wit and notorious profligacy; also a poet, playwright and essayist; mar 23 Feb 1657, Lady Catharine, dau of John Savage, 5th Earl Rivers (d 1737); dspml 20 Aug 1701, leaving issue,
2.1.1.1. Catherine (née Sedley), 1st Countess of Dorchester, in the County of Dorset and Baroness (of) Darlington, in the County of Durham [E[ (so cr 20 Jan 1685/86 for life); b 21 Dec 1657; Mistress of James II; mar ca Aug 1696, David Colyear, 1st Earl of Portmore KT, PC (b ca 1656; d 2 Jan 1730); d 26 Oct 1717, when the peerages cr for life became EXTINCT, leaving issue by her husband and also had illegit issue as mistress of James II,
2.1.1.1.1. Catherine; b ca 1681; mar 1st 28 Oct 1699 (div 12 June 1701 by Act of Parl), James Annesley, 3rd Earl of Anglesey (see VALENTIA, E), and had issue; mar 2nd 16 March 170506, John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby KG (b 8 Sept 1657; d 24 Feb 1721), only s and h of Edmund Sheffield, 2nd Earl of Mulgrave (see SHEFFIELD of Normanby, Bt), and had further issue by her 2nd husband.
2.1.1.1.2. James; b 1684; d young 22 Apr 1685.
2.1.1.1.3. Charles; d young.
The eldest s,
Sir John Savile JP (co Durham ca 1576; WR Yorks ca 1580), SL (1594), MP, of Bradley Hall, Yorks; b 26 March 1546; educ Brasenose Coll Oxf (BA 1563), Clement’s Inn (admit 1564), Middle Temple (admit 1565; Barrister 1573; Bencher and Autumn Reader 1586); MP for Newton 1572-83; Commsnr for Ecclesiastical Causes for Diocese of Durham 1576-77; Justice of Oyer and Terminer for N Circuit 1580-81; Baron of Excheq 1598-1606; Justice of Assize for N Circuit 1598; CJ of Lancaster 1598; Commsnr for Duchy of Lancs 1599-1601; mar 1st 1575, Jane, dau of Richard Garth, of Morden, Surrey, Clerk of the Petty Bag, and had issue,
1. Sir Henry Savile, 1st Bt, of Methley Hall, Yorkshire [E] (so cr 29 June 1611), Kt (1603), JP (WR Yorks 1608-d); b 1579; educ Middle Temple (admit 1593), Merton Coll Oxf 1594-96, abroad (France) 1600-02, at the English Court 1602-07; Capt of Militia of Ft (WR Yorks) 1613; Col by 1626-d; MP: Aldborough 1604, 1614, York Feb 1629; Member of Cncl in the N 1609-d (V-Pres 1626); Commsnr of Oyer and Terminer for N Circuit 1616-d; mar 26 Oct 1607 (came with £1,600), Mary (mar 2nd 23 Sept 1634, Sir William Sheffield; her admon granted 9 July 1639), dau and cohrss of John Dent, of London, a salter; dsps 23 June 1632 (3 s and 1 dau dvp), when the baronetcy became EXTINCT.
2. Jane; mar Sir Henry Goodrich, of Ribston, Yorks.
3. Elizabeth; mar Sir John Jackson, of Hickleton, Yorks.
(continued) Sir John mar 2nd 1587, Elizabeth, widow of Richard Tempest, of Bowling and dau of Thomas Wentworth, of Elmsall; mar 3rd 1594, Hon Dorothy, widow of (1) Paul Wythypole, of Ipswich, Suffolk and (2) Sir Martin Frobisher, being dau of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Baron Wentworth (see LYTTON, E); mar 4th 1603, Margery, widow of (1) Sir Jerome Weston, of Essex and (2) Mr Thwaites, of London, being dau of Ambrose Peake, of London; d 2 Feb 1607 (bur at St Dunstan’s-in-the-West), leaving with 2 dau by his 2nd w,
John Savile, of Methley Hall, Yorks; mar 1st, Mary, dau of John Robinson, of Ryther; mar 2nd, Margaret, dau of Sir Henry Garraway, Ld Mayor of London 1639-40 (d July 1646); d 1651, leaving issue by his 2nd w,
1. John (see below).
2. Margaret; mar Sir William Ingilby, 2nd Bt, of Ripley Castle, Yorks (d 1682) (see INGILBY of Ripley Castle and Harrington, Bt); d 9 Nov 1697, leaving issue.
3. Elizabeth; mar Leonard Wastell.
4. Catherine; mar 1st Apr 1657, Sir William Cholmley, 2nd Bt, of Whitby, Yorks (see CHOLMONDELEY, M); mar 2nd aft July 1665, Sir Nicholas Strode, of Chipsted House, Kent; d 1710.
5. Dorothy; b 1 May 1647; mar 15 Sept 1663, John, eldest s of Sir James Clavering, 1st Bt, of Axwell (d 24 March 1702), and had issue.
The s and h,
John Savile, of Methley Hall and of Thrybergh, Yorks; b 1644; mar Sarah, dau of Peter Tryon, of Harringworth and of Bulwich, Northants, and had issue,
1. John; mar Mary (d Nov 1740), dau and cohrss of Sir John Banks, 1st Bt, of London [E] (bapt 19 Aug 1627; dspm 19 Oct 1699), and had with 2 s,
1.1. Elizabeth, of Thrybergh, Yorks (inherited from her f); mar 30 Apr 1726 her cousin, Hon John (d 1 Jan 1739/40), ygr bro of Heneage Finch, 2nd Earl of Aylesford (see below); d 28 Oct 1767, leaving issue.
2. Charles (see below).
3. James, of Wakefield, Yorks; mar and had an only dau and hrss,
3.1. Sarah; mar Rev Joseph Leech.
4. Samuel, of Darrington, Yorks; mar and had an only dau and hrss,
4.1. Sarah; mar William Sotherton.
5. Sarah; mar 12 Apr 1692, Sir Thomas Slingsby, 4th Bt, of Scriven (d 1726), and had issue.
The 2nd s,
Charles Savile, of Methley Hall, Yorks; b 1676; mar Alathea (d 24 June 1759), dau and cohrss of Gilbert Millington, of Felley Priory, Notts; d 5 June 1741, leaving an only s and h,
John Savile, 1st Earl of Mexborough.Lineage of Savile, Marquesses of Halifax: Sir Thomas Savile MP, of Elland, Yorks; MP for Yorkshire ca 1442; mar Margaret, dau of Sir John de Pilkington, Sheriff of Notts 1419, and was ancestor of,
Sir George Savile, 1st Bt, of Thornhill, Yorkshire [E] (so cr 29 June 1611), Kt (June 1587), JP (WR Yorks ca 1573); b unknown; educ St John’s Coll Oxf, Lincoln’s Inn; MP: Boroughbridge 1586-87, Yorkshire 1592; High Sheriff of Yorks 1613-14; mar 1st 1583, Lady Mary (dsp), dau of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury and 6th Earl of Waterford (see SHREWSBURY, WATERFORD and TALBOT, E), and had issue,
1. George; as his 2nd w, Anne, dau of Sir William Wentworth, 1st Bt, of Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorks (d 1614); dvp 1618, leaving issue,
1.1. George, later 2nd Bt (see below).
1.2. William, later 3rd Bt (see below).
(continued) Sir George, 1st Bt mar 2nd 1599, Elizabeth (bur 25 Jan 1626), widow of George Savile, of Stanley, Wakefield, Yorks and dau of Sir Edward Ayscough, of S Kelsey, Lincs; d 12 Nov 1622, leaving with other issue by his 2nd w,
2. Sir John, of Lupset, Yorks; mar 1st, Elizabeth, dau of John Armitage, of Kirklees, and had 1 dau; mar 2nd, Anne, dau of Sir John Saome, and had further issue by his 2nd w,
2.1. John, later 6th Bt (see below).
The grands,
Sir George Savile, 2nd Bt; b ca 1611; d 19 Dec 1626, when he was suc by his ygr bro,
Sir William Savile, 3rd Bt; b ca 1612; a Royalist during the Civil War; Col of Ft by July 1642-d; Gov: Raby Castle 1643, Sheffield Castle May 1643, York 1643-d; MP: Yorkshire Apr 1640, Old Sarum Feb 1641-1642; Extra Gent of Privy Chamber by July 1639-d; Extra Master in Chancery Jan 1644-d; mar 29 Dec 1629, Hon Anne (bur 31 July 1662), dau of Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry (see COVENTRY, E); d 24 Jan 1644, leaving issue,
1. George, later 4th Bt (see below).
2. Henry MP; b 1642 at Rufford, Notts; educ Christ Church Oxf (admit 1657), traveled abroad (France, Spain, Italy) by 1661-65; Groom of Bedchamber: Duke of York (later James II) 1665-72, Charles II 1673-78; Envoy Extra to France 1672, 1673, 1678-82; MP: Newark 1673-77 (declared void), 1679-87; V-Chamberlain of HH 1680; Ld of Admiralty 1682-84; d unm 6 Oct 1687 at Paris, France.
3. Anne; mar 12 May 1656 as his 1st w, Thomas Hickman-Windsor, 1st Earl of Plymouth (qv), and had issue.
The elder s,
Sir George Savile, 4th Bt later 1st Marquess of Halifax E] (so cr 22 Aug 1682) also earlier Earl of Halifax [E] (so cr 16 July 1679) earlier still Viscount Halifax, in the County of York and Baron Savile, of Elland [E] (so cr 13 Jan 1667/68), PC (1672-75/76, 1679-85, 1688/89-92); b 11 Nov 1633; MP for Pontefract 1660 (Convention Parl); Ld Privy Seal 1682-84/85, Feb 1688/89; Ld Pres of the Cncl Feb-Dec 1685; Chief Minister of England 1689-90; Custos Rot of WR Yorks 1689-d; FRS 1675; mar 1st 29 Dec 1646, Lady Dorothy (d 16 Dec 1670), dau of Henry Spencer, 1st Earl of Sunderland (see MARLBOROUGH, D), and had with other issue,
1. Lady Anne; b 1663; mar 10 Aug 1682 as his 2nd w, John Vaughan, 3rd Earl of Carbery (b 1639; d 12 Jan 1713); d ca Jan 1690, leaving issue.
2. William Savile, later 2nd Marquess of Halifax (see below).
(continued) 1st Marquess of Halifax mar 2nd Nov 1672, Gertrude, yst dau of Hon William MP, of Thoresby, Notts (d 17 July 1678), 2nd s of Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull (d 25 July 1643); d 5 Apr 1695, leaving further issue by his 2nd w,
3. Lady Elizabeth; b ca 1677; mar 1692, Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Chesterfield (b 3 Feb 1673; d 27 Jan 1726); d ca 1708, leaving issue.
The eldest surv s,
William Savile, 2nd Marquess of Halifax and 6th Bt; b 1665; educ Christ Church Oxf (matric 5 Dec 1681 aged 16), Corpus Christ Col Camb (BA 1685; MA 1688); MP (Tory) for Newark 1689-95; mar 1st (by lic dated 24 Nov 1687 he aged 22 and she about 16), Elizabeth (bapt 19 Jan 1671; d ca Aug 1694), only surv child and hrss of Sir Samuel Grimston, 3rd Bt, of Bradfield, Essex (d Oct 1700), by his 1st w, Lady Elizabeth, dau of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham (see WINCHELSEA and NOTTINGHAM, E); mar 2nd 2 Apr 1695, Lady Mary (bapt 18 May 1677; mar 2nd 1 Jan 1707/08, John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe, qv; she d 19 Sept 1718), eldest dau of Daniel Finch, later 7th Earl of Winchelsea and 2nd Earl of Nottingham (qv); dspms 31 Aug 1700, when all the peerages and the baronetcy became EXTINCT.
S.S.
S. S.
It would appear the more authoritative version of the Savile family pedigree is that by J. W. Clay, “The Savile Family”, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, xxv (1920), pp 1-47.
Others include J. W. Walker, “The Manor and Church of Woolley”, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, xxvii (1924), pp 249-318; W. Paley Baildon, “Notes on the early Savile pedigree and the Butlers of Skelbrook and Kirk Sandal”, Section I and Section II, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, xxviii (1926), pp 380-419 and W. Paley Baildon, ibid, Section III, xxix (1929), pp 68-89.
A transcription can be found on
https://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/sources/saville/index.shtml
S.S.
