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Authorised form of nameSavile; George (1633 - 1695); 1st Marquess of Halifax; politician and writer
Dates1633 - 1695
NationalityBritish
Place of birthThornhill, Yorkshire, England, Europe
Date of birth11 November 1633
Place of deathHalifax House, St James's Square, London, England, Europe
Date of death5 April 1695
DatesAndPlacesBurial:
Westminster Abbey, London, England, Europe (11 April 1695)
OccupationPolitician; author
ActivityEducation:
Shrewsbury School (1643); pupil of Eleazar Duncan DD; travelled to France and Italy (1647-1652); Middle Temple (admitted 1683)
Career:
Commissioner for Militia, Yorkshire (1660); Commissioner for Assessment for West Riding of Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire (1660-1668); Captain, afterwards Colonel of Militia for the West Riding (1662-1677); Deputy Lieutenant of the West Riding (1660-1677, 1679-?death); Captain in Prince Rupert's Horse (1667); MP for Pontefract (1670); Commissioner for public Accounts (1667-1670); Commissioner for Trade (1669-1674); Commissioner for Loyal and Indigent Officers' Accounts (1671); Commissioner for Plantations (1672-1674); Ambassador Extraordinary to France and the United Provinces (1672); Privy Councillor (1672-1676, 1679-1692); Lord Privy Seal (1682-1685, 1689-1690); Governor of the Society of Mineral and Battery Works (1682-death); Governor of the Society of Mines Royal (1683-death); Chancellor to the Queen Consort (1684-1685); Lord President of the Council (1685-1689); Speaker of the House of Lords (1689)
Honours:
Baron Savile of Eland and Viscount Halifax 1668; Earl of Halifax 1679; Marquess 1682
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election30/11/1675
Age at election42
ProposerSeth Ward
RelationshipsParents: Sir William Savile and Anne Coventry; succeeded his father as 4th Baronet (1644)
Married: 1) Dorothy Spencer; 2) Gertrude Pierrepont
Additional relatives: son-in-law John Vaughan, 3rd Earl of Carbery (FRS 1685); distant relation by marriage to John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale (FRS 1699)
PublishedWorksRCN: R62083
OtherInfoAt the Restoration in 1660, Savile was counted amongst one of the largest landowners in England with an income from his Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire estates estimated around £10,000 per year. He was active in the investigation of the 'Popish Plot' but voted against a bill in 1678 which aimed for the exclusion of Roman Catholics from the House of Lords. He anonymously published 'Character of a Trimmer' (1685) and 'Letter to a Dissenter' (1687), in which he wrote about his political convictions, including vehemently opposing party politics. After his election, he was barely active in the Royal Society, only being mentioned as the observer of an experiment.
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; GEC; Hunter; MT; Henning; ODNB
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/44335185
CodeNA8412
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