John Andrew Bruce Savile, styled Viscount Pollington, who died 23 October, 2024, aged 64, was the elder son of the 8th Earl of Mexborough, and heir to North Yorkshire estates extending to 20,000 acres.
Viscount Pollington’s life has been marked by tragedy, having lost his mother and sister to drug addiction.
He was born 30 November, 1959, the first child of the 8th Earl of Mexborough (born 16 May, 1931), and his first wife, the former Lady Elisabeth Hariot Grimston (1939-1987), daughter of the 6th Earl of Verulam, DL (1912-1973). The Mexborough country estate is at Arden Hall, Hawnby, near York.
The Savile family has lived in Yorkshire since the middle ages. A branch of the family, later to become Earls of Mexborough in 1766, came to live at Methley, near Wakefield in the 15th century and this estate remains a core part of the portfolio to this day. Methley Hall was constructed in 1588 by the family and subsequently remodeled several times. It was requisitioned by the army during both the first and second world wars, during which time it also became subject to significant mining subsidence and extensive dry rot. The Hall was demolished in the late 1950s and the family moved to Arden Hall in the North York Moors near Hawnby and Helmsley, which had been purchased in 1897 by the 6th Earl of Mexborough.
Young Johnny was followed by a sister, Lady Alethea Savile (born 3 June, 1963), and both children had an unconventional upbringing. They moved to London with their erratic mother, Elisabeth, who sometimes had breakfast brought to her at 4am. ‘It was a tricky childhood,’ recalled a contemporary. ‘Johnny was always snivelling.’
In adulthood, Lady Alethea believed herself trapped in a love triangle involving her one-time fiance, James Gilbey, and Gilbey’s closest female friend, Diana, Princess of Wales, whom Gilbey nicknamed ‘Squidgy’. Alethea was shattered by the socalled ‘Squidgy Tapes’ — recordings released of intimate conversations between Gilbey and the Princess of Wales, in which Gilbey said to Diana: ‘Oh Squidgy, I love you.’ On 16 September, 1994, Viscount Pollington found Lady Alethea Savile dead in her Chelsea flat, dosed with heroin, cocaine and antidepressants. The inquest heard how, instead of reporting her death, he attempted to hunt down those he believed had sold her the drugs, became involved in ‘a scuffle’ in a house in Barnes, South-West London, then went to a pub where he downed ‘three or four doubles’. In 1995, Pollington was arrested for threatening customers of the Grove Tavern in Knightsbridge. In January, 1996, the 36 year-old Pollington walked from the Old Bailey dock declaring: ``I have been a bloody idiot.'' Still grieving over his sister Lady Alethea Savile's death, Pollington had developed a drink problem which led to aggression and mood swings, the court heard. The judge, Recorder Heather Hallett, was told armed police had arrested and handcuffed Pollington at his home in Knightsbridge, London, after he had threatened customers at his local hotel. He was released on bail but became aggressive with two staff at a Chelsea off-licence a month later after one refused to serve him because he was drunk. They retreated into a back room, locked the door, and called police. In court Lord Pollington admitted possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear and affray. His counsel, Mr David Etherington, said his client had found his sister dead from a mixture of heroin, cocaine, and anti-depressants the previous September. Lady Alethea was once engaged to the Princess of Wales' friend Mr James Gilbey. ``He (Pollington) had been her carer. He adored her,'' Mr Etherington said. ``They had a very close relationship. He thought he was uniquely equipped to help her. ``He suffers a mixture of anger, grief, and guilt because he feels he was unable to stop her death. It is thought her death led to a drink problem, which led to these events.'' Judge Hallett said she had thought of imprisonment when first she read the case papers. She warned Pollington that if he repeated his drunken behaviour ``no court would give you another chance''. She gave him two years' probation, provided he continued medical treatment for his problems, and ordered he perform 100 hours' community service.
Johnny Pollington's parents divorced in 1972, and his mother died from addiction in 1987. The Earl of Mexborough married secondly, 5 June, 1972, Catherine Joyce Vivian (former wife of the Hon Nicholas Crespigny Laurence Vivian, 6th Baron Vivian), youngest daughter of James Kenneth Hope CBE, of West Park, Lanchester, Co. Durham, by whom he had further issue, a son the Hon James Hugh Hope John Savile (born 21 Aug 1976), and a daughter Lady Lucinda Sarah Catherine Savile (born 3 Apr, 1973), who married 28 Oct, 2006, Edward G T J Ankarcrona, 2nd son of Jan Gustaf Theodor Stensson Ankarcrona (born 18 Apr 1940) by his former wife Ebba Margaretha Antoine von Eckermann (who married, as his 2nd wife, Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi (born 1951).
Johnny Pollington found happiness and on 11 June, 2019, aged 58, he married Mrs Norma Isolde Findlay (born 1963), a divorcee, daughter of John Phoenix, by his wife Elizabeth.
Viscountess Pollington is a former counsellor and a polygraph examiner working for one of the UK’s leading lie detection services.
Johnny Pollington was childless. His younger half-brother, the Hon James Savile is now heir to the family peerages, the Earldom of Mexborough (created 1766, in the Peerage of Ireland), the Viscountcy of Pollington (also in the Peerage of Ireland, 1766), and the Barony of Pollington (in the Peerage of Ireland, created 1753).It remains to be seen whether James will assume the courtesy title of Viscount Pollington.
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