Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland

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Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland
Coat of arms of Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland

Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland ( August 14, 1742 - July 10, 1817 ) was a British peer and soldier.

Origin and family

Percy was the eldest son of Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland , and Elisabeth Percy, 2nd Baroness Percy . His mother was a daughter of Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset .

His birth name was Hugh Smithson . He and his parents changed their surname to Percy after his mother's maternal grandmother in 1750 with royal permission .

In 1764 he married Lady Anne Crichton-Stuart, daughter of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute . In 1779 he divorced Lady Anne and married Frances Julia Burrell, with whom he had three daughters and two sons.

Since 1750 he carried the courtesy title of Lord Warkworth , from 1766, when his father was elevated to Duke of Northumberland , that of Earl Percy . In 1776, when his mother died, Percy inherited the title of Baron Percy and thus received a seat in the House of Lords , having been a member of the House of Commons since 1763 . When his father died in 1786, he finally inherited his title of nobility as 2nd Duke of Northumberland, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, 2nd Earl Percy, 3rd Baron Warkworth and 5th Baronet, of Stanwick.

Military career

Percy joined the British Army as a captain in 1759 . As was customary at the time, his family bought him a patent. However, he quickly distinguished himself and fought in the battles of Bergen and Minden in the Seven Years War . In 1764, Percy was promoted to colonel and served as the king's aide-de-camp .

He served with honors as brigadier general in the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775. With targeted artillery salvos, he was able to prevent a numerically superior enemy from rubbing up the retreating British units. In this way he prevented a major military defeat for the British. He was promoted to lieutenant general. However, Percy was later so enraged by Commander-in-Chief General Howe's warfare that he resigned his command after a dispute over hay supplies and left America in 1777. He continued to serve, but mostly only in ceremonial functions.

Percy was Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland from 1786 to 1798 and from 1802 until his death . His land tenants erected a memorial in his honor after he reduced the lease by a quarter. He did this because corn prices had fallen in 1815. Percy suffered from gout and was known for his notoriously bad mood. He was one of the richest men in England of his time.

Marriages and offspring

He was married twice. His first marriage was on July 2, 1764, Lady Anne Stuart, daughter of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute . The marriage remained childless and was divorced by Act of Parliament in March 1779. On May 23, 1779, he married Frances Julia Burrell (1752-1820) for the second time. He had four children with her:

Web links

literature

  • David Hackett Fischer: Paul Revere's Ride . Oxford University Press, New York 1994, ISBN 0-19-508847-6 .
  • R. Arthur Bowler: Logistics and the Failure of the British Army in America, 1775-1783 . Princeton University Press, Princeton (NJ) 1975, ISBN 0-691-04630-1 .
predecessor Office successor
Hugh Percy Duke of Northumberland
1786-1817 		Hugh Percy
Elisabeth Percy Baron Percy
1776-1817 		Hugh Percy
personal data
SURNAME Percy, Hugh, 2nd Duke of Northumberland
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Northumberland, Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British peer and soldier
DATE OF BIRTH August 14, 1742
DATE OF DEATH July 10, 1817