Thomas Darcy, 1st Earl Rivers

Thomas Darcy, 1st Earl Rivers (c. 1565 – 25 February 1640) was an English peer and courtier in the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I.

The Right Honourable The Earl Rivers
1st Earl Rivers
Tenure	1626–1640
Successor	John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers
Other titles	Viscount Colchester Baron Darcy of Chiche
Born	Thomas Darcy c. 1565
Died	25 February 1640 (aged 74–75) Winchester House, London
Buried	St Osyth, St Peter and St Paul church, Essex 51.79863°N 1.07724°E / 51.79863; 1.07724
Nationality	English
Spouse(s)	Mary Kitson
Issue	Thomas Darcy Edward Darcy Elizabeth Darcy Mary Darcy Penelope Darcy Susan Darcy
Parents	John Darcy, 2nd Baron Darcy of Chiche Frances Rich

Early life

He was the son of John Darcy, 2nd Baron Darcy of Chiche* and Frances Rich. His grandfather was Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche*, a supporter of Lady Jane Grey.^[1] He succeeded to his father's title as 3rd Baron Darcy of Chiche* in March 1581. In 1613, he obtained a new grant of the Barony of Darcy of Chiche* with a special remainder, on the failure of his male issue, to his son-in-law, Sir Thomas Savage, and his heirs. He attended the courts of Elizabeth I and James I, and was created Viscount Colchester in the Peerage of England on 5 July 1621.^[2] During the reign of Charles I, Darcy was further honoured when he was made Earl Rivers on 4 November 1626.^[2] Both of these titles were created with the special remainder to Sir Thomas Savage and his heirs.^[3]

*Chiche was the old name for St Osyth, Essex.

Marriage and children

Mary Kitson, Countess Rivers, c. 1590

Earl Rivers married Mary Kitson, a daughter of Sir Thomas Kitson, and by her had issue:^[4]

• Thomas Darcy (d. 1614). He was a page to Prince Henry and performed at the tournament Prince Henry's Barriers in January 1610.^[5][6]
• Elizabeth Darcy (1581–1651), married Thomas Savage, 1st Viscount Savage and had issue, including John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers^[7]
• Mary Darcy (d. 31 July 1627), married in 1615, Roger Manwood (1591–1623), without issue^[8]
• Penelope Darcy (d. 1661), a noted recusant, married firstly, 11 June 1610, as his second wife, Sir George Trenchard (c.1575–1610) of Wolveton,^[9] secondly, in 1611, Sir John Gage, 1st Baronet, by whom she had issue,^[10] and thirdly, Sir William Hervey in 1642^[11]
• Susan Darcy, died unmarried

Death and succession

The Earl died on 25 February 1640 at Winchester House, near Broad Street, London and was buried with his ancestors at St Osyth, Essex.^[2] He was succeeded in his titles, except for the original barony of Darcy of Chiche of 1581, by his grandson, John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers.^[2]

An inventory was made of the goods of Mary Countess-Dowager Rivers on 28 June 1644. The furnishings are listed in the rooms of an unnamed house, not St Osyth's Priory.^[12]

Notes

1. F. G. Emmison, Elizabethan Life: Wills of Essex Gentry and Merchants (Chelmsford, 1978), p. 8.
2. Cokayne XI 1949, p. 25.
3. Collins IX 1812, pp. 400–401.
4. Burke 1866, pp. 156–157.
5. John Gage, History and Antiquities of Hengrave (London, 1822), pp. 221-2.
6. Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 293
7. Cokayne XI 1949, p. 458.
8. Moseley & Thrush 2010.
9. Hasler 1981.
10. Gage 1822, pp. 238–239.
11. Ferris & Sgroi 2010.
12. HMC 1 1913, pp. 35–51.

References

• Boothman, Lyn; Parker, Richard Hyde (2006). Savage Fortune: An Aristocratic Family in the Early Seventeenth Century. Suffolk Records Society. Vol. 49. Woodbridge: Boydell; Suffolk Records Society. ISBN 1843831996.
• Burke, Bernard (1866). A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, By Sir Bernard Burke, LL.D., Ulster King of Arms (New ed.). London: Harrison.
• Burke, John; Burke, Bernard (1844). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland, and Scotland (2nd ed.). London: John Russell Smith.
• Cokayne, G. E. (1949). White, Geoffrey H. (ed.). The Complete Peerage; or, a History of the House of Lords and all its Members from the Earliest Times. Vol. XI. London: St Catherine Press.
• Collins, Arthur; Brydges, Egerton (1812). Collins's Peerage of England; Genealogical, Historical, and Biographical; Greatly Augmented, and Continued to the Present Time by Sir Egerton Brydges, K. J. Vol. IX (6th ed.). London: F. C. and J. Rivington, and others.
• Ferris, John P.; Sgroi, Rosemary (2010). "Hervey, Sir William II (1586-1660), of Ickworth, Suff.". In Thrush, Andrew; Ferris, John P. (eds.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629. historyofparliamentonline.org.
• Gage, John (1822). The History and Antiquities of Hengrave, in Suffolk. London: James Carpenter.
• Hasler, P.W. (1981). "Trenchard, George II (c.1575-1610), of Wolveton, Dorset and London". In Hasler, P.W. (ed.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603. historyofparliamentonline.org.
• Historical Manuscripts Commission (1913). Report on the Manuscripts of Allan George Finch, Esq., of Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland. Vol. 1. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office.
• Kyle, Chris (2010). "Savage, John (1603-1654), of Rock Savage, Cheshire". In Thrush, Andrew; Ferris, John P. (eds.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629. historyofparliamentonline.org.
• Moseley, Virginia C.D.; Thrush, Andrew (2010). "Manwood, Roger (1591-1623), of Hackington, Kent". In Thrush, Andrew; Ferris, John P. (eds.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629. historyofparliamentonline.org.
• Walter, John (3 January 2008). "Savage [née Darcy], Elizabeth, suo jure Countess Rivers". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/69349. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Peerage of England
New creation	Earl Rivers 2nd creation 1626–1640	Succeeded by John Savage
	Viscount Colchester 1st creation 1621–1640
Preceded by John Darcy	Baron Darcy of Chiche 1st creation 1581–1640	Extinct
New creation	Baron Darcy of Chiche 2nd creation 1613–1640	Succeeded by John Savage