Thomas Darcy, 1st Earl Rivers

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. 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.[1] During the reign of Charles I, Darcy was further honoured when he was made Earl Rivers on 4 November 1626.[1] Both of these titles were created with the special remainder to Sir Thomas Savage and his heirs.[2]

Earl Rivers married Mary Kitson, a granddaughter of Sir Thomas Kitson, and by her had issue:[3]

• Thomas Darcy, died without issue during his father's lifetime
• Elizabeth Darcy (1581–1651), married Thomas Savage, 1st Viscount Savage and had issue, including John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers[4]
• Mary Darcy (d. 31 July 1627), married in 1615, Roger Manwood (1591–1623), without issue[5]
• Penelope Darcy (d. 1661), a noted recusant, married firstly, 11 June 1610, as his second wife, Sir George Trenchard (c.1575–1610) of Wolveton,[6] secondly, in 1611, Sir John Gage, 1st Baronet, by whom she had issue,[7] and thirdly, Sir William Hervey in 1642[8]
• Susan Darcy, died unmarried

The Earl died on 25 February 1640 at Winchester House, near Broad Street, London and was buried with his ancestors at St Osyth, Essex.[1] 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.[1]

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 un-named house, not St Osyth's Priory.[9]

• Boothman, Lyn; Parker, Richard Hyde (2006). Savage Fortune: An Aristocratic Family in the Early Seventeenth Century. Suffolk Records Society. 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. 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. 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. 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 (1581–1651)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/69349. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)