Rufford, Nottinghamshire, and in the West Riding he bequeathed to his second son, Henry, a captain in the 2nd life-guards, owner of the famous racehorse, Cremorne, winner of the Derby in 1872 and the Ascot Cup in 1873. On his death in 1881 the estate passed to the fourth son, Augustus William (1829–1887), who held the post of assistant master of the ceremonies in her majesty's household for many years previous to his death at Cannes in April 1887.
The eldest son, John, obtained in August 1841, as John Savile Lumley, a nomination as supernumerary clerk in the librarian's department at the foreign office, and in the following November he accompanied John Fane, eleventh earl of Westmorland [q. v.], to Berlin as private secretary and attaché. On 5 July 1842 he was appointed attaché at Berlin, and obtained a grasp of diplomatic practice during the next seven years, while his chief was endeavouring to mediate in the Schleswig-Holstein difficulty between Denmark and Prussia. In 1849 he was transferred to St. Petersburg, and in October 1854 he became secretary of legation at Washington, being employed on special service at New York some months prior to his removal to Madrid in February 1858. On 14 April 1860 he was appointed secretary to the embassy at Constantinople, but at the close of the same year he was transferred in the same capacity to St. Petersburg, where he acted from time to time as chargé d'affaires, and where he was in January 1866 elected member of the Russian Imperial Academy. Next summer he was promoted envoy to the king of Saxony; and when, a few months later, that mission was withdrawn, Savile proceeded as envoy to the Swiss confederation. Two years later he was transferred to Brussels, while in August 1883, after forty-two years' service, he was promoted to be British minister at Rome, and was created a privy councillor in the same year. While at Rome he represented Great Britain at the International Sanitary Conference (1885), and commenced some valuable excavations at Civita Lavinia (Lanuvium). Of the numerous objects there found in marble, terra cotta, bronze, and glass, some were presented to the British Museum, while others went to form the Savile Gallery in the Nottingham Castle Museum (1891). In September 1888 he was succeeded at Rome by the Marquis of Dufferin, and retired from the service, whereupon he was raised to the peerage as Baron Savile of Rufford in Nottinghamshire (25 Oct.). In the previous year he had dropped the name of Lumley, and had succeeded to the estate and mansion of Rufford Abbey by the death of his brother Augustus. Baron Savile greatly improved the abbey and its demesnes. In the former he located his fine collection of pictures. He showed great judgment as a collector, had a fine perception and a wide knowledge of art, and himself painted some vigorous landscapes and sea-pieces. He was elected an honorary member of the Royal Academy at Antwerp, and he served for many years as a trustee of the National Gallery, to which he presented ‘Christ at the Column,’ by Velasquez, and other oil-paintings. He was created a C.B. in 1873, K.C.B. in 1878, and G.C.B. in 1885. He died at Rufford Abbey on 28 Nov. 1896. The title passed to his nephew, John Savile Lumley (son of his third brother, Frederick Savile Lumley, rector of Bilsthorpe), who entered the diplomatic service in 1873.
[Gent. Mag. 1835 i. 541, 1856 ii. 771; Foster's Alumni Oxon. s.v. ‘Lumley’ and ‘Savile;’ Times, 30 Nov. 1896; Nottingham Daily Guardian, 30 Nov. 1896; Foreign Office Lists; Burke's Peerage; Black's Jockey Club, p. 302.]
SAVILE, THOMAS, first Viscount Savile of Castlebar in the peerage of Ireland, second Baron Savile of Pontefract, and first Earl of Sussex, in the peerage of England (1590?–1658?), third, but eldest surviving son of John Savile, first baron Savile of Pontefract [q. v.], was born about 1590. In November 1610 he was admitted a member of the Inner Temple, and on 6 March 1616–17 he was knighted by James I. Soon afterwards he was appointed steward of the town and lordship of Wakefield, and receiver of the manor of Castle Donington, and on 10 Jan. 1621–2 he was made receiver and surveyor of the honour of Tutbury. On 10 Jan. 1623–4, in conjunction with his father, he defeated Wentworth in a contest for the parliamentary representation of Yorkshire. On 18 Dec. 1626 he was appointed joint steward, forester, and warden of the forest of Gualtres, and on the 29th gentleman of the privy chamber to Charles I; he also received a grant of the reversion of the surveyorship of customs. On 3 March 1627–8 he was returned as member for York city, but was unseated on petition in the following April. He inherited the family hatred of the Wentworths, and zealously seconded his father in his struggle with the future Earl of Strafford. He also attached himself to the Duke of Buckingham, into whose family he subsequently married, and it was probably through the duke's influence that he was created Viscount Savile of Castlebar in the peerage of Ireland on 11 June 1628.
