Book excerpt: "The eighty-three documents presented here, varied in length and character, are not all concerned with Suffolk, but they are all connected with the eventful lives of Sir Thomas (later Viscount) Savage and his wife Elizabeth Savage (later Countress Rivers), who married in 1602 and whose homes included Melford Hall." "Thomas and Elizabeth both inherited considerable estates in Suffolk, Essex and Cheshire. Within a tight circle of aristocratic Catholics, they became prominent servants of the royal family during the reigns of James I and Charles I. After Thomas's death in 1635, Elizabeth remained an intimate of the queen, but her two houses of St. Osyth's and Melford Hall were sacked in 1642, and she remained chronically short of money up to her death in 1651." "The central document is a remarkable inventory of 1635-6, taken after Thomas died, listing the contents of Melford Hall in Suffolk, Rocksavage in Cheshire and a town house on Tower Hill in London."--BOOK JACKET.