John Savage (Irish politician)

Sir John Savage (1814 - 1883) was the mayor of Belfast, Ireland (now Northern Ireland) in 1872.

Official portrait of John Savage as mayof of Belfast

Born in 1814 in Glenavy, a town in Antrim, he was knighted upon becoming mayor of Belfast.[1]

Following a riot in the Summer of 1872 that served as a precursor to the 1886 Belfast Riots, he put forth a proclamation that closed public houses for a week, authorized government forces to disperse any public gatherings, and authorized government forces to enter any buildings where shots had been fired.[2]

Savage eventually removed constabulary forces from the city, citing the "perfectly peaceful condition" that had arisen after hostilities had cooled.[3]

He married a woman named Mary Turtle in 1838,[4] and died in 1883, allegedly committing suicide without reason.[5]

See also

• Lord Mayor of Belfast

References

1. Foster, Joseph (1881-01-01). The baronetage and knightage. Nichols and Sons. p. 733.
2. Doyle, Mark (2016-08-11). Communal Violence in the British Empire: Disturbing the Pax. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 68. ISBN 9781474268271.
3. Radford, Mark (2015-04-23). The Policing of Belfast 1870-1914. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 78–79. ISBN 9781472506375.
4. Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1904-01-01). Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland, Including All the Titled Classes. p. 806.
5. "National Library of Australia". The Sydney Morning Herald. July 25, 1883. p. 4. Retrieved May 11, 2017.

Civic offices
Preceded by Phillip Johnston	Mayor of Belfast 1872	Succeeded by James Henderson