Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland
Ralph George Algernon Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland , DL (born November 16, 1956 ) is an English aristocrat , hereditary peer and a major British landowner from the Percy family .
biography
He is the second son of Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland from his marriage to Lady Elizabeth Montagu-Douglas-Scott, daughter of Walter Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 8th Duke of Buccleuch . As the younger son of a duke , he had been the courtesy address Lord Ralph Percy from birth .
He attended Eton College and studied history at Christ Church College of Oxford University , then land management at the University of Reading and worked for seven years at Arundel Castle Estate Office before moving to Northumberland returned to the Alnwick Estate for his older brother Henry to manage who had inherited his father as the 11th Duke in 1988. When his brother died childless in 1995, he inherited his title of nobility as the 12th Duke of Northumberland . As a Duke he was a member of the House of Lords until the House of Lords Act 1999 ended this right of hereditary peers. The Hansard does not record any speeches by the duke in parliament.
The family's extensive estates in Northumberland , Scotland , London , Surrey and Tyneside are organized into a number of corporations and foundations of which the Duke is the Beneficial Owner. The largest of these companies, Northumberland Estates, manages 40,000 hectares of land, 1,600 hectares of forest directly and 8,100 hectares of agricultural land; 100 tenants cultivate the rest of the land. The family's estates include Alnwick Castle , Warkworth Castle and Prudhoe Castle in Northumberland, Syon Park in London, Hulne Park and Hulne Priory near Alnwick, Albury Estate in Surrey and other listed buildings such as Brizlee Tower . He ranks 248 on the Sunday Times' 2011 Richest List with an estimated fortune of £ 315 million.
In addition to working in his companies and foundations, the Duke works as a real estate agent and appraiser as well as a publisher. In 1997 he also held the post of Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland.
The 12th Duke shows greater economic zeal than his predecessors. His development plans often meet with criticism. The sale of Raphael's Madonna with the Carnations in the open market rather than at a lower price to the National Gallery in 2003 attracted criticism. At about the same time, he waived 10% of the lease for his tenants because of foot and mouth disease. He has expressed his aversion to wind farms, but has been involved in the repair of a hydropower plant. The Duke is a sponsor of the Northumberland Church of England Academy . In 2014 he had numerous art treasures from Alnwick Castle and Syon House auctioned at Sotheby's.
Marriage, offspring and relatives
Northumberland has been married since 1979 and has four children:
- Lady Catherine Sarah Percy (* 1982), ⚭ 2011 Patrick J. Valentine;
- George Dominic Percy, Earl Percy (* 1984), director of the Cluff Geothermal with Professor Paul Younger ;
- Lady Melissa Jane Percy (* 1987), ⚭ 2013 Thomas van Straubenzee;
- Lord Max Ralph Percy (* 1990) ⚭ 2017 Nora zu Oettingen-Spielberg (* 1990), daughter of Albrecht, Prince of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg .
His niece Lucy Cuthbert is married to the Saudi Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud .
family tree
Individual evidence
- ^ Lynne Barber: Gardener's question time . In: The Observer , August 3, 2003. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
- ↑ Mr Ralph Percy at Hansard (English)
- ^ The Northumberland Estates . In: Alnwick Castle website . The Northumberland Estates. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
- ^ Farming . In: The Northumberland Estates . The Northumberland Estates. Archived from the original on February 24, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
- ^ Sawmill and Forestry . In: The Northumberland Estates . The Northumberland Estates. Archived from the original on February 23, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
- ↑ Duke's Plans Spark Suspicion . In: Northumberland Gazette , February 7, 2001. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
- ^ History and Heritage . In: The Northumberland Estates . The Northumberland Estates. Archived from the original on February 24, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
- ↑ Nigel Burnham: Will the Duke's grand plans ruin Northumberland? . In: Mail Online , October 19, 2009. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
- ↑ Duke hits back at £ 35m art sale critics . In: Northumberland Gazette , January 16, 2003. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
- ↑ Duke slashes farm rents to ease rural crisis . In: Northumberland Gazette , November 6, 2002. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
- ↑ Duke joins fight against windfarm . In: Northumberland Gazette , November 11, 2011. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
- ↑ ... while Duke lashes turbines as "ugly and noisy" . In: Northumberland Gazette , December 2, 2009. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
- ^ Duke's hydro system taps into the past . In: Northumberland Estates , October 29, 2009. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
- ^ Northumberland Auctions at Sotheby's 2014
- ↑ Noblesse et royautés (fr) ( Memento of 13 March 2012 at the Internet Archive ).
- ^ Cluff Geothermal: the team . Archived from the original on November 16, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
- ^ Mr T. van Straubenzee and Lady Melissa Percy . In: Daily Telegraph , November 7, 2012.
literature
- Charles Mosley (Ed.): Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage . Volume 2, Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, Wilmington 2003, p. 2937.
Web links
- Ralph George Algernon Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland on thepeerage.com
- Northumberland, Duke of (GB, 1766) at Cracroft's Peerage
- The Northumberland Estates
- Alnwick Castle
- Syon Park
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Henry Percy |
Duke of Northumberland 1995 – present |
current owner of the title |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Percy, Ralph, 12th Duke of Northumberland |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Percy, Ralph George Algernon, 12th Duke of Northumberland; Percy, Lord Ralph |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British peer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 16, 1956 |