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Percy family, Dukes of Northumberland

This page summarises records created by this Family

The summary includes a brief description of the collection(s) (usually including the covering dates of the collection), the name of the archive where they are held, and reference information to help you find the collection.

Date: 1100-2000
History:

The Percy family was established in the North Riding of Yorkshire (Topcliffe, etc) and elsewhere in the 11th century. Petworth (Sussex) was acquired c.1150, and Leconfield (Yorkshire, East Riding) c.1240. Henry, 1st Lord Percy, purchased the barony of Alnwick (Northumberland) in 1309, and his son had a grant of the reversion of Warkworth (Northumberland) in 1329.

The 4th Lord Percy was created Earl of Northumberland in 1377. In 1386 he married Maud, widow of Gilbert Umfraville, Earl of Angus, and sister of Lord Lucy of Egremont, through whom estates in Northumberland (Prudhoe, ex Umfraville), Cumberland (Cockermouth, Egremont, Allerdale), the East Riding of Yorkshire (Wressell) and elsewhere came to the Percy family. The 3rd Earl (1421-61) married Eleanor Poynings, who brought properties in the west of England and Wales descending from the Poynings, Fitzpaine and Bryan families, including Haselbury Bryan (Dorset), Stogursey (Somerset) and Laugharne (Carmarthenshire).

The 6th Earl made over his estates to the Crown shortly before he died in 1537, but they were mostly restored to his nephew and successor in 1557. The 8th Earl married c.1562 a daughter and co-heir of John Neville, Lord Latimer, bringing the estate of Burton Latimer (Northamptonshire) and other valuable properties into the family. The 9th Earl (1564-1632) acquired the freehold of Syon and Isleworth (Middlesex) in 1603-4, to which other Middlesex properties (East Bedfont and Hatton) were added from 1656. The 10th Earl (1602-68) acquired Northumberland House in the Strand (London) at the time of his marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Suffolk, in 1642.

Some outlying properties were sold in the late 17th century, but the principal Percy estates (Petworth, etc in Sussex, Alnwick, Warkworth, Prudhoe, etc in Northumberland, Leconfield and Wressell in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Topcliffe and Catton in the North Riding, Spofforth and Tadcaster in the West Riding, Cockermouth, Egremont, etc in Cumberland, Syon in Middlesex and Northumberland House) passed on the death of the 11th Earl in 1670 to his daughter Elizabeth, who in 1682 married Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset (d. 1748). On the death of their son the 7th Duke in 1750 the dukedom passed to the male heir (see Seymour, Dukes of Somerset), but the Seymour and Percy estates were divided. The Seymour estates were inherited by co-heirs (see Manners, Dukes of Rutland and Wyndham of Orchard Wyndham). Of the Percy estates, those in Cumberland, Yorkshire and Sussex passed to a nephew of the 7th Duke, Sir Charles Wyndham (see Wyndham, Barons Leconfield). The Northumberland and Middlesex estates, however, passed to the 7th Duke's daughter Elizabeth, who in 1740 had married Sir Hugh Smithson, 4th Bt. The Smithson family had estates in the North Riding of Yorkshire (Stanwick, etc), County Durham (Darlington), Middlesex (Tottenham) and London. Sir Hugh Smithson succeeded by special remainder to the Earldom of Northumberland and was created Duke of Northumberland in 1766.

The Werrington (Devon and Cornwall) estate was purchased in 1775 and sold in 1864. On the death of the 4th Duke without issue in 1865 he was succeeded by his cousin the 2nd Earl of Beverley (whose father, second son of the first Duke, had been created Earl of Beverley in 1790: the family had property at Airmyn, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, derived from the Smithsons, and the parliamentary borough of Bere Alston in Devon). The 6th Duke (1810-99) married in 1845 Louisa, daughter and co-heir of Henry Drummond of Albury (Surrey).

Estates in 1883: Duke of Northumberland: Northumberland 181,616 acres, Surrey 3,765 acres, Middlesex 882 acres, Co Durham 134 acres, total 186,397 acres worth £176,048 a year; Dowager Duchess: Yorks NR 5,683 acres (the Stanwick estate) worth £8,320 a year.

Places:
  • Airmyn, Yorkshire
  • Albury, Surrey
  • Allerdale, Cumberland
  • Alnmouth, Northumberland
  • Alnwick, Northumberland
  • East Bedfont, Middlesex
  • Bere Alston, Devon
  • Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire
  • Burwell, Lincolnshire
  • Carew Castle, Pembrokeshire
  • Cary Fitzpaine, Somerset
  • Catton, Yorkshire
  • Claxby, Lincolnshire
  • Cockermouth, Cumberland
  • Darlington, Durham
  • Egremont, Cumberland
  • Garthorpe, Lincolnshire
  • Haldersh, Surrey
  • Haselbury Bryan, Dorset
  • Hatton, Middlesex
  • Heversham, Westmorland
  • Isle Abbots, Somerset
  • Isleworth, Middlesex
  • Laugharne, Carmarthenshire
  • Launceston, Cornwall
  • Leconfield, Yorkshire
  • Marlborough, Wiltshire
  • Newport, Cornwall
  • Northumberland House, London
  • Petworth, Sussex
  • Pewsey, Wiltshire
  • Pocklington, Yorkshire
  • Prudhoe, Northumberland
  • Rothbury, Northumberland
  • Slapton, Devon
  • Snape, Yorkshire
  • Somerhill Park, Kent
  • Spofforth, Yorkshire
  • Stanwick, Yorkshire
  • Stogursey, Somerset
  • Striguil, Monmouthshire
  • Syon House, Middlesex
  • Tadcaster, Yorkshire
  • Topcliffe, Yorkshire
  • Tottenham, Middlesex
  • Trowbridge, Wiltshire
  • Tynemouth, Northumberland
  • Warcop, Westmorland
  • Warkworth, Northumberland
  • Werrington, Devon
  • Westminster, Middlesex
  • Weston Gumshalve, Surrey
  • Wressell, Yorkshire
Sources of authority: Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Principal family and estate collections L-Z, 1999.
Name authority reference: GB/NNAF/F87767 (Former ISAAR ref: GB/NNAF/F10786 )
Collections
Number Description Held by Reference Further information
1
12th-20th cent: Northumberland (Alnwick, etc), Durham (Darlington, etc), London (Northumberland House, etc) and Middlesex (Syon House in Isleworth, etc), Surrey (Albury, etc) and Yorks (Stanwick, etc) deeds, legal and trust papers, manorial records, rentals, accounts, estate, household and Percy family papers 12th-20th cent, Cornwall (Launceston, etc) and Devon (Werrington, etc) estate papers c1770-1865, misc Devon (Bere Alston), Middlesex (Tottenham) and Yorks (Airmyn, etc) estate papers 16th-19th cent (former earldom of Beverley estates) and deeds, manorial records, estate and household papers rel to former Percy and Seymour family properties in Cumberland (Cockermouth, etc), Devon (Slapton, etc), Dorset (Haselbury Bryan, etc), Lincs (Claxby, etc), Somerset (Isle Abbots, Stogursey, etc), Sussex (Petworth, etc), Wilts (Trowbridge, etc), Yorks (Catton, Topcliffe, Wressell, etc) and Carmarthenshire (Laugharne, etc) 13th-18th cent, with misc household accounts for Snape (Yorks) 1496-98 and Striguil (Monmouthshire) 14th cent, household inventories for Somerhill Park (Kent) 1646 and Carew Castle (Pembrokeshire) 1601 and papers of the Drummond, Fitzjames, O'Brien, Seymour and Smithson families 16th-19th cent, etc
Alnwick Castle
NRA 836 Percy

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82a]; Davis Medieval Cartularies (1306)
2
c1720-1899: Northumberland (Alnwick, etc) estate maps and papers (c1766-late 19th cent), with Rothbury (Northumberland) rental (1720)
Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne
NRA 7878 Bell

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82b]
3
19th cent: further Northumberland (Alnwick, etc) estate maps
Northumberland Archives
NRA 7878 Bell

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82c]
4
19th cent: Northumberland (Alnmouth, Alnwick, Warkworth, etc) estate papers
Northumberland Archives
NRA 7878 Bell

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82d]
5
1831-1869: Tynemouth (Northumberland) estate corresp
Tyne and Wear Archives
See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82f]
6
1433-19th cent: Cornwall (Launceston, etc) and Devon (Werrington, etc) deeds and estate papers
Kresen Kernow (formerly Cornwall Record Office)
NRA 33906
7
13th-18th cent: Cumberland (Cockermouth, etc) deeds, legal papers, manorial records and estate papers 13th-18th cent, with Bucks, Dorset (Haselbury Bryan, etc), Northumberland (Alnwick, Tynemouth, etc), Somerset (Stogursey, etc), Westmorland (Heversham, etc) and Yorks (Catton, Topcliffe, Wressell, etc) manorial and estate papers 15th-18th cent, etc
Collection held privately: enquiries to Cumbria Archive and Local Studies Centre, Whitehaven
NRA 12202 Wyndham

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [117d]
8
15th-18th cent: Cumberland (Cockermouth, etc) deeds and papers (Percy and Seymour family estates)
Cumbria Archive Centre, Carlisle
See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [117f]
9
1614-19th cent: Garthorpe (Lincs) deeds and abstracts 1614-19th cent and maps 1783, 1822
Lincolnshire Archives
See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82l]
10
1279-1937: Middlesex (East Bedfont, Isleworth, etc) manorial records
The London Archives: City of London
NRA 41249

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82g]
11
1773-1880: Middlesex (Syon House in Isleworth, etc) rentals and estate accounts 1773-1880, with Westminster estate terrier 1828
Chiswick Library Local Studies Service
NRA 13857 Hounslow boro

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82h]
12
c1390-1932: Surrey (Albury, etc) manorial records
Surrey History Centre
See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82i]
13
13th-18th cent: Sussex (Petworth, etc) and Yorks (Catton, Wressell, etc) deeds, manorial records, estate and household papers 13th-18th cent, Dorset (Haselbury Bryan, etc), Middlesex (Syon House in Isleworth, etc), Northants (Burton Latimer), Northumberland (Alnwick, etc), Somerset (Stogursey, etc) and Wales (Carmarthenshire, etc) manorial records and estate papers 15th-18th cent, misc estate papers for Cumberland (Cockermouth, etc) 16th-18th cent and Kent and Suffolk 1523-24, papers rel to Northumberland House 1650-85 and Syon House 17th cent-1709 and papers of the 9th and 10th Earls of Northumberland 16th-17th cent, etc
Collection held privately: enquiries to West Sussex Record Office
NRA 15719 Wyndham (Petworth)

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [117a]
14
14th-20th cent: Sussex estate records (Petworth etc), incl manorial records
West Sussex Record Office
15
1815: Airmyn (Yorks) estate plan
Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society
See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82k]
16
1661-1701: Yorks (Catton, Spofforth, Wressell, etc) estate rental 1661 and account books 1664-1701 (Percy and Seymour family estates)
Cumbria Archive Centre, Carlisle
NRA 17777 Lowther

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [63a]
17
1845: Percy family marriage settlement, Lord Lovaine and Louisa Drummond
Surrey History Centre
NRA 29445 SRO Guildford misc

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82j]
18
early 18th cent: Percy family legal and estate papers
Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre
NRA 32135 Seymour

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [92a]
19
c1760-1822: misc Percy family corresp
Yale University Libraries: Beinecke Library
NRA 18661 Osborn coll
20
1512: Percy family household book
Lambeth Palace Library
21
mainly 17th cent: Seymour (Barons Seymour of Trowbridge) family corresp and papers (from the collections of Thomas Percy, Bishop of Dromore)
British Library, Manuscript Collections
See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82n]
22
1856-1865: household and personal vouchers of Charlotte, Duchess of Northumberland (d1866)
Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections
See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82m]
23
c1825-1866: papers of Charlotte, Duchess of Northumberland (d1866)
North East Wales Archives (NEWA), Hawarden (formerly Flintshire Record Office)
NRA 26972
24
1660-1680: official letter books and papers of Henry Coventry (1619-1686) (from the archives of the Dukes of Northumberland)
British Library, Manuscript Collections
See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82o]
25
18th cent: letter book of Frances, 7th Duchess of Somerset (d1754)
University of Birmingham: Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections
NRA 32504 BUL misc

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82p]
26
c1636-1637: Admiralty papers of the 10th Earl of Northumberland (1602-1668)
National Maritime Museum: The Caird Library and Archive
See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [117h]
27
c1639-1640: accounts and papers of the 10th Earl of Northumberland
Kent History and Library Centre
NRA 17989 Sidney

See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [95a]
28
1599: rental of the estates of the 9th Earl of Northumberland (d1632)
Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society
NRA 12891 Slingsby
29
Northumberland antiquarian collections of John and Thomas Bell (acquired by the 4th Duke of Northumberland)
Northumberland Archives
See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82e]
30
c1400: Sherborne missal (from the archives of the Dukes of Northumberland)
British Library, Manuscript Collections
See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [82q]
31
c1560-1570: genealogical roll (copy)
British Library, Manuscript Collections
32
1930-1940: booklets for the memorial services of 8th and 9th Dukes of Northumberland
Northumberland Archives