Christopher Atkinson Saville
English merchant and politician / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christopher Atkinson (c. 1738 – 23 April 1819),[1] from about 1798 known as Christopher Atkinson Savile or Saville, was an English merchant and politician.
Born in Yorkshire, Atkinson moved to London and married the niece of a corn merchant, entering that trade himself at the London Corn Exchange.[2] At the 1780 general election Atkinson was elected as one of the two Members of Parliament for Hedon, but he was expelled from the House of Commons on 4 December 1783,[1] after being convicted of perjury in his dealings with the Navy Victualling Board, and was sentenced to stand in the pillory.[2]
Atkinson was granted a royal pardon in 1791,[2] and was again returned to Parliament for Hedon in 1796,[1] holding the seat until he stood down at the 1806 general election.[2] He changed his name to Saville some time after 1798.[2]
He then bought extensive properties in Okehampton in Devon, which gave him control of both parliamentary seats of the pocket borough of Okehampton,[2] and at the election of 1807 he returned his son Albany Savile (1783-1831). He returned himself for Okehampton at the 1818 election, holding the seat until his death in April 1819, aged over eighty.[3]