EARL

See also:

• RIVERS
• RIVERS, ANTHONY WOODVILLE, or WYDEVILLE, 2ND EARL (c. 1442—1483)
• EARL RIVERS
• RIVERS, RICHARD SAVAGE, 4TH EARL (c. 1660—1712)

RIVERS  , an English title held in succession by the families of Woodville or Wydeville, Darcy and Savage . In 1299 John Rivers, or de Ripariis, was summoned to parliament as a baron, and his son John was similarly summoned by Edward II . The earldom was created for Sir Richard Woodville in 1466 and remained in this family until 1491 . (For the three earls of his line see below.) As borne by the Woodvilles the title was not derived from the name of a place, but from an ancient family name, Redvers, or Reviers, members of this family, whose arms are quartered on the Rivers shield, having been sometime earls of Devon . From 1626 to his death in 164o the earldom was held by Thomas Darcy, Viscount Colchester, from whom it descended by special remainder to his grandson John (c . 1610—1654), the son of his daughter Elizabeth (d . 1651) by her marriage with Sir Thomas Savage (d . 1635), who was created Viscount Savage in 1626 . John's son Thomas (c . 1626—1694) was the 3rd earl, and his grandson Richard the 4th earl (see below) . The title became extinct when John, the 5th earl, died about 1735 . A new barony of Rivers, held by the family of Pitt and its later representative, that of Pitt-Rivers, was in existence from 1776 to i880 .