Savage, William

Savage, William (fl. 1204), first of the Savage lords of the Ards, belonged to a family with close connections to Cheshire, England. His ancestors are said to have held lands in Cheshire and Derbyshire, and a charter of the earls of Chester indicates that one member of the Savage family endowed St Werburgh's abbey in that city. William Savage, as a young man, may have been among the men of Chester who, already settled in Dublin by 1177, joined the expedition of John de Courcy (qv) and took part in the conquest of the overkingdom of Ulaid. Certainly he was granted extensive lands in the Ards Peninsula of Co. Down. He appears to have established himself at Ardkeen, where a motte still survives overlooking Strangford Lough. The site is probably to be identified with ‘Archen’, mentioned c.1185 in a charter of John (qv), lord of Ireland. Later (1204) William witnessed a charter of King John and handed over his son Robert as a hostage. He died in the early thirteenth century. His descendants, as lords of the Ards, maintained their caput at Ardkeen throughout the later middle ages. Amongst the most prominent members of the family was Robert Savage (qv), who was forced to support the Scots at the time of the Bruce invasion of Ireland.