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

Life

He was the eldest son of Henry Savile of Bradley, near

Stainland Stainland is a village and civil parish in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. The village is part of the Greetland and Stainland ward of Calderdale Council and is approximately west of Elland, south of Halifax and north-west of Huddersfi ...

, 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 Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

, in 1561, but did not graduate. To avoid the plague in 1563, he remained in Bradley, where he studied law books on his own.historyofparliamentonline.org, ''Savile, John I (1546-1607), of Bradley and Methley, Yorks''.
/ref> Savile entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

, where he was autumn reader in 1586. In 1572 he was elected member of parliament for Newton, Lancashire. His candidacy has been attributed to friendship with William Fleetwood; another friend and parliamentarian was Henry Gates. 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 A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

by James I on 25 July 1603, and in 1604 was made chief justice of the

county palatine of Lancaster Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

. In November 1606 Savile was one of the barons of the exchequer who decided that the king could by

royal prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy, as belonging to the sovereign and which have become widely vested in th ...

levy impositions on imports and exports. He had consistently supported the

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

courts against the prerogative in his earlier judicial career, however. He died on 2 February 1607, and was buried in St. Dunstan's-in-the-West, London; his heart was taken to

Methley Methley is a dispersed village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, south east of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is located near Rothwell, Oulton, Woodlesford, Mickletown and Allerton Bywater. The Leeds City Ward is called Kippax a ...

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 William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Annal ...

, whom he entertained at Bradley in August 1599. He was also an original member of the College of Antiquaries.

Works

The only published work by Savile is the collection of ''Reports'' of cases tried in the exchequer court, edited (1675) by John Richardson. "Savile, Sir John (1546–1607)"
/ref>

Family

Savile was four times married: # to Jane, daughter of Richard Garth of Morden, Surrey, by whom he had issue a son Henry, and two daughters; # 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); # to Dorothy, daughter of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Baron Wentworth (died 1551), and widow of Sir W. Widmerpoole and then of Sir Martin Frobisher; and # to Margery, daughter of Ambrose Peake, and widow of Sir Jerome Weston. By his last two wives, Savile had no issue.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Savile, John 1546 births 1607 deaths 17th-century English judges English MPs 1572–1583 Members of the Middle Temple 16th-century English judges Serjeants-at-law (England) Knights Bachelor