Savage, Richard c.1697-1743
English poet

He claimed to be the illegitimate child of Richard Savage, the fourth and last Earl Rivers, and the Countess of Macclesfield, but the story of his noble descent has been discredited. In 1727 he killed a man in a tavern brawl, and narrowly escaped the gallows. He led a dissipated life and the queen's pension (1732) of �50 for a birthday ode was squandered in a week's debauchery. On Queen Caroline's death (1737) Pope tried to help him, but after about a year he went to Bristol, was jailed for debt, and died there. He wrote a comedy, Love in a Veil (1718), in the dedication of which he asserted his parentage, and The Tragedy of Sir Thomas Overbury (1723), and at least one notable poem, The Wanderer (1729). He owes his reputation mainly to Dr Johnson, who wrote a fine short biography of him.

Bibliography: S V Makover, Richard Savage: a mystery in biography (1909)