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- BIOGRAPHY
Son of Henry Savile,of Bradley Hall and Elizabeth/Ellen Ramsden, Henry was born on 30 November 1549. He went to Oxford University in 1561, at the age of thirteen. He took his degree in 1565 and developed a reputation as a Greek scholar and mathematician. He was Greek tutor to Queen Elizabeth I and through her influence, was elected Warden of Merton College, Oxford.
In 1596 he was appointed Provost of Eton College. He was subsequently sent by Elizabeth to the Low Countries as her representative. When James I came to the throne in 1603, he retained the Royal favour and was knighted by the King in 1604. His only son, Henry, died shortly afterwards and he then devoted much of his wealth to publishing books. He collected the best copies of St. Chrysostom and employed scholars to transcribe and annotate them. He published these in a book at a cost, it is said, of 8000 pounds. It is also alleged that French papists stole his work and published it simultaneously in France.
His wife Margaret Dacre died about 1610 and Sir Henry Savile died on 19 February 1621 at Eton College. Merton College erected a monument to his memory.
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