Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland

“ The fifth Earl was a gorgeous person whose magnificence equalled, almost, that of royalty. Henry Percy, the sixth Earl of Northumberland, loved Ann Boleyn, and was her accepted suitor before King Henry VIII. unfortunately discovered the lady’s charm, and interfered in a highhanded “bluff King Has” fashion, and young Percy lost his prospective bride. He had no son, although married later to the daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury, and his nephew, Thomas Percy, became the seventh Earl. ”

“ Portrait of Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland.
—Is any portrait known of Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland, who was beheaded at York, A.D. 1572, for the part he took in the "Rising in the North?"
E. PEACOCK, Jr.
Newtonian System.
—Is it known who was the author of a satirical pamphlet against Newton: The Theology and Philosophy in Cicero's "Somnium Scipionis" explained, London, 1751, 8vo.? ”

“ The 1st earl of Northumberland, father of the famous Hotspur, Sir Henry Percy (q. v.) , was killed at Bramham Moor in 1408, while in arms against the king, and his title and estates were forfeited. But, by an act no less gracious than politic, Henry V. restored them in 1414 to this earl's grandson, Henry (1394-1455) , then a prisoner with the Scots, whose l1berat1on he had no difficulty in procuring from the duke of Albany during the time of James I.'s captivity. ”

“ Thomas Percy, a native of Beverley, an ancient and historic town in the East Riding of Yorkshire, was therefore a Yorkshireman by birth. He was the son of Edward22 Percy and Elizabeth his wife. Though not the ringleader of the band of conspirators, Thomas Percy must have cut the greatest figure in the eyes of the public at large. For he was a “kinsman” of Henry, ninth Earl of Northumberland, according to the testimony of the Earl himself, [16] and through this nobleman Thomas Percy had been made Captain of the Pensioners-in-Ordinary — Gentlemen of Honour — in attendance at Court. ”

“ On 8 May he received his formal appointment as marshal of England, and was further made captain in the marches of Calais (Fœdera, iii. 1078) . Shortly before the king's death Sir John Menstreworth, lying in the marshal's prison under sentence of death, entrusted him with a letter to the king, and it was believed that Percy suppressed it.
On 15 July the young king, Richard II, the influence of Lancaster being in the ascendant, created Percy Earl of Northumberland, and he thus became earl-marshal. Nevertheless Margaret, elder daughter of Thomas of Brotherton (1300–1338) [q. v.] ”

“ HAY, LUCY, Countess of Carlisle (1599–1660) , was the second daughter of Henry Percy, ninth earl of Northumberland, by Dorothy, widow of Sir Thomas Perrot, and daughter of Walter Devereux, earl of Essex (Collins, Peerage, ed. Brydges, ii. 342) . She was born in 1599, and married on 6 Nov. ”

“ Thomas Percy was of the Northumberland family, and steward to the earl, and John Wright was brother-in-law to Percy, and reputed to be the best swordsman in England. Percy had joined the catholics about the same time as Catesby returned to them, and like a zealous proselyte had, during the latter days of Elizabeth, gone to James at Edinburgh, and endeavoured to draw from him a promise of favour to the catholics on his accession. James is reported to have assured Percy that he would at least tolerate the mass in a corner. ”

“ When prices fell after the peace he reduced his rents twenty-five per cent.; and the tenantry, to show their gratitude, erected a memorial column in 1816. But when some gave up their farms in expectation of a further reduction, they were forbidden to compete for them again; this prohibition remained in force till the time of the fourth duke.
Northumberland was elected F.S.A. in May 1787, and F.R.S. on 6 March 1788. When Earl Percy, he presented to the king a petition, with twenty thousand signatures, in favour of Dr. ”

“ He was consecrated by the Pope at Avignon, 23rd May 1344. During his episcopate in (Edward III.'s reign) [105] 1349, Norwich was visited by "Black Death"; over 51,000 are supposed to have fallen victims to the dread plague. He founded Trinity Hall at Cambridge, 1350; was sent to Rome on an embassy there. He died January 6, 1354. He was buried at the church of St. Mary of Avignon.
Thomas Percy (1355-69) , brother of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, against the wishes of the monks, was elected to the see. ”

“ They were soon dispersed, Aske being brought to York and hanged upon Clifford's Tower. Though suppressed for a time, public feeling broke out into an insurrection during Elizabeth's reign to restore Roman Catholicism. It ended in their discomfiture, Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland, being beheaded at York as the chief ringleader, and his head stuck on the Micklegate Bar as a warning to others. History records a Parliament held here by Charles I. in 1642, when he promised to govern legally. ”

“ Queen Elizabeth promised him favour and employment in return for his valuable services. When his brother was a prisoner in Scotland, Percy wrote urging him to confess his offences and appeal to the queen's mercy. In 1571 he was elected M.P. for Northumberland, and on his brother's execution at York in 1572 he assumed, by Queen Elizabeth's permission, the title of eighth earl of Northumberland, in accordance with the patents of creation. ”

“ The chief care for the youth devolved, however, upon his uncle, Robert Umfraville, whose martial exploits against the Scots did much to restore the waning fortunes of the house of Umfraville. After the Lancastrian revolution, to which Robert Umfraville early adhered, Henry Percy, called Hotspur, became guardian of young Gilbert's lands. The Umfravilles and the Percys were closely related, the Earl of Northumberland's second wife being the widow of the Earl Gilbert of Angus who died in 1381, who was Robert's uncle of the half-blood. ”

“ In worldly wealth he was now comparatively poor, and his fortunes were broken, though the Queen at times, only at times, smiled on him.
At what precise time Hariot, who never deserted Raleigh, became acquainted with Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, with whose honored name, next to that of Sir Walter’s, his must ever be associated, does not as yet appear. It is known, however, that there was an intimacy between Raleigh and Percy as early as 1586, when Sir Walter presented Percy with a coat of mail on his going over to Flanders, and soon after a bedstead made of cedar from Virginia ”

“ Besides the six gentlemen intended for the council, and Mr. Robert Hunt, a minister of the gospel, we find the names of more than fifty cavaliers, who are carefully reckoned in the shipping list as "gentlemen," and who were better fitted for the adventures of the drawing-room than for the rude scenes of the American forest. Disappointed in hope and reduced in fortune, these restless wanderers sought the New World with desire for exciting adventure and speedy wealth. Among them was George Percy, a member of a noble family and brother to the Earl of Northumberland. ”

“ He also presided at the Star-chamber inquest by which (23 June 1580) the suicide and treasons of the Earl of Northumberland were certified [see Percy, Henry, eighth Earl of Northumberland] ; and was a member of the commissions which attainted Northumberland's accomplice, William, grandson of Sir William Shelley [q. v.] , and passed sentence of death upon Anthony Babington [q. v.] ”

“ Percy, Earl of Northumberland, is the lover and destined husband of Elwina, daughter of Earl Raby. For some offence Raby breaks off all relations with Percy, who subsequently joins a crusade. During his absence Raby compels his daughter to marry Earl Douglas, an inveterate foe of Percy, and shortly after that the hero returns to England. ”

“ Sir Hugh Smithson married the Lady Elizabeth, daughter and only child of the Duke of Northumberland, who died in 1750. In the same year he obtained an Act of Parliament, authorizing him to assume the surname and arms of Percy. In 1767 the King created him Earl Percy and Duke of Northumberland. The hero of this ballad was the eldest son of this marriage.
[45] This alludes to Mr. Pitt’s Tax upon Hair-powder, which turned out a failure; the public declining its use rather than pay the tax. Those who continued it were called “guinea-pigs,” the tax being a guinea per head. ”

“ He continued closely connected with the Percy family, and in 1456 joined the musters of the Earl of Northumberland for a raid into Scotland. This family connection drew him, like most of the northern gentlemen, to the Lancastrian side in the wars of the Roses. ”

“ On the death of his father on 23 May 1455 he succeeded him as Earl of Northumberland, the king allowing him relief of his lands without payment, the new earl having on 3 July foiled by his careful preparations an attack of Scots on Berwick, for which he received the king's thanks. This attack on Berwick was probably connected with the war between King James and James, ninth earl of Douglas [q. v.] , in alliance with whom Percy seems to have acted against Scotland about this time. ”

“ On the threatened invasion of Scotland in 1453 by Percy, earl of Northumberland, accompanied by James, ninth earl of Douglas, Home was provided with victuals and shafts of lances for the defence of the house of Home at a cost of 20l. ”

“ HE was the only son of William the seventeenth Earl of Arundel, by Anne, daughter of Henry Percy, fourth Earl of Northumberland, and succeeded to the title and estates when about thirty years of age, until which time he had lived apart from public life. ”

“ The actual representation in blood of the later Percys (i.e. from 1572) passed in 1865, on the death of the 4th duke, to the dukes of Atholl, who in virtue of it are Lords Percy, under the writ of 1722, the oldest of the family titles now remaining. The ancient London residence of the Percys, Northumberland House, Charing Cross, was removed to make way for Northumberland Avenue. Above it stood the Percy crest, a (blue) lion with stiffly extended tall ”