Thomas Savage, 3rd Earl Rivers

{{Short description|English nobleman and soldier}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox noble

| honorific-prefix = Major General
The Right Honorable

| name = The Earl Rivers

| image = Rivers_Memorial_St_Michaels_Macclesfield_Cheshire_UK.jpg

| caption = Tomb of Thomas Savage, 3rd Earl Rivers

| CoA = File:Arms of Arnold Savage (d.1375).svg

| birthname = Thomas Savage

| noble family = Savage family

| birth_date = {{circa|1628}}

| birth_place = Cheshire, England

| death_date = 14 September {{death year and age|1694|1628}}

| death_place = Great Queen Street, Parish of St Giles in the Fields, Middlesex

| other_names =

| known_for =

| occupation =

| nationality = English

| parents = John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers
Hon. Catherine Parker

| spouse = Elizabeth Scrope
Lady Arabella Bertie

| issue = Hon. Thomas Savage
Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers
Lady Elizabeth Savage
Lady Annabella Savage

| residence = House on Great Queen Street, Rocksavage

}}

Major General Thomas Savage, 3rd Earl Rivers ({{circa|1628}} – 14 September 1694) was an English nobleman and soldier.

He was the first son of John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers by his wife Catherine, daughter of William Parker, 13th Baron Morley.{{cite web|title=Rivers, Earl (E, 1626 - 1737)|url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/Rivers1626.htm|work=Cracroft's Peerage|accessdate=6 February 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605111002/http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/Rivers1626.htm|archivedate=5 June 2012}} His father was closely involved in the English Civil War on the Royalist side from 1641. Consequently, he lost his castles at Halton and Rocksavage and their contents were confiscated.

About 1647, he married firstly Elizabeth (b. 1627), illegitimate daughter of Emanuel Scrope, 1st Earl of Sunderland by his mistress Martha Jeanes. Their children included: Thomas, who married Charlotte, daughter of Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby; Richard, who succeeded as 4th Earl Rivers; Elizabeth; and Annabella. They also had other children who died young.

He was widely believed to be a Roman Catholic, and during the Popish Plot he was denounced by informers, but the evidence was so flimsy that no charges were ever brought against him.

About 1684, he married secondly Arabella, daughter of Robert Bertie, 3rd Earl of Lindsey. They had no issue.

He died at his house in Great Queen Street in the Parish of St Giles in the Fields, Middlesex. A memorial to him by William Stanton was installed in St Michaels Church, Macclesfield.3rd Earl Rivers Memorial, in St Michael's Church Macclesfield

Documented evidence exists in the form of a pamphlet which details a murder by a Thomas Savage of St Giles in the Fields. It is likely the Thomas in question is the son of the 3rd Earl Rivers, or a family relation.{{cite web|url=http://www.shakespearesengland.com/2010/03/she-fell-down-shrieking.html|title=A murder of a maid – Thomas Savage|author=Shakespeare's England|accessdate=2012-06-26}}