William Baron de Percy

Percy blazon 1000's Percy - An old print of Sawley Abbey Yorkshire, founded by William de Percy

William was born in 1034.  William's father was Geffrey de Percy and his mother was <Unknown>. He had three brothers named Alan, Serlo  and Picot.  He died at the age of 62 in 1096.

• Death Notes

  Died in sight of Jerusalem.

• General Notes

  William Baron Algernon de Percy ("algers-nons" means "with whiskers' - having a beard).   In 1067 accompanied William The Conqueror on the Norman invasion of England.  He secured the lands of Yorkshire for William The Conqueror against the Picts /Scots.  He was subsequently granted extensive land in Yotkshire, Lincolnshire and Sussex and was created First Baron de Percy.
  
  William de Perci was wild and adventurous and wore a beard(which was apparently unusual at this time). For this he was known as Al-gers-nons (meaning with whiskers) and the name of Algernon has followed the Percy race to this very day.
  There does not seem to be any proof that William de Percy was with William the Conquerer at the battle of Hastings in 1066. In fact it seems that William (Algernon) de Percy arrived in England in 1067 to assist the Conquerer mop up remaining resistance in Yorkshire and shore up the defences against the threat from Scotland and from the possibility of Viking invasion. For his trouble William de Percy was given knights fees and land, initially under Earl Hugh of Chester. By 1086 William's family including brothers Serlo and Picot is charted as owning various estates in Yorkshire and the surrounding counties.
  
  In 1070 he was engaged on works connected with the rebuilding of York Castle after its destruction by the Danes and in 1072 he took part in the Conquerors expedition to Scotland. At the Domesday survey he was tenant in chief in the three ridings of Yorkshire, in Lindsey, with a small holding in Nottingham and of Humbledon Hants which he had received with his wife (Emma de Port). He was also an under tenant of the Earl of Chester in Whitby and in Catton and in the city of York and of the Bishop of Durham in Scarborough and Lund.
  He built the castle at Topcliffe and before 1086 he refounded the monastery at Whitby. He was among the Barons present when William The Conqueror heard a plea relating to property of the Abbey of Fecamp and he witnessed charters of William II in the period before 1095. In 1096 he set out on the first crusade and died and was buried at Mount Joy near Jerusalem. (This was also the ancient burial site of Samuel of the Old Testament and the hill today is called Nebi Samwel) just 10 km's NW of Jerusalem. Following Williams dying wishes Sir Ralph Eversly a Knight carried his heart back to England and it was buried at Whitby Abbey. William had sons Alan, Walter, William, Richard and Arnolde.
  William became the 2nd Abbot of Whitby in 1102.
  From Richard sprang the Percies of Dunsley.
  Arnolde de Percy witnessed his father William de Percy's charter to Whitby and from him came the Percies of Kildale and Kilnwick Percy.
  William de Percy had 2 brothers. Serlo de Percy became prior of Whitby Abbey and Picot de Percy was a tenant of William at Bolton upon Dearne and Sutton upon Derwent. Picot de Percy donated the church at Bolton Percy to Nostell priory. His son Robert de Percy gave the church at Sutton upon Derwent to Whitby Abbey witnessed by his son William. There was further issue from this branch of the family for in 1266 Piers de Percy held Wharram Percy in Chief and had other lands in Sutton upon Derwent, Carnaby and Bolton Percy which all came under the Percy fee. Piers de Percy was of the direct male Percy lineage, which apparently became extinct in 1168.
  
  This excerpt is from - The Conqueror and His Companions by J.R. Planché, Somerset Herald. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874.
  
  The name of Percy, strange to say, does not occur in the Roll of Battle Abbey; for I cannot agree with my old friend Sir Bernard Burke in his discovery of it in Percelay, a form in which I have never found it in any authority. Strange, because in view of the numerous interpolations it contains, one can scarcely imagine the omission of a name so distinguished in Anglo-Norman history. But for those manifest additions the fact of the absence of the name of Percy would go far to establish the genuineness of the Rolls, as no member of that family appears to have fought at Senlac, and William de Percy must be placed in the list of those noble Normans who "came over with the Conqueror" on his return to England in 1067, amongst whom I have already mentioned Roger de Montgoineri and Hugh d'Avranches.
  William de Percy was the sworn brother-in-arms of the latter, and accompanied him to England, and who on being made Earl of Chester transferred to him the lordship of Whitby, with the extensive domains attached to it in the East Riding of Yorkshire. By what service he obtained the vast possessions held by him at the time of the general survey we have no information, an old manuscript, quoted by Dugdale, simply saying that, "being much beloved by the King," he enjoyed them through his bounty, and it is not till we arrive at the reign of Stephen that we hear of any remarkable actions attributed to his descendants, when his great-great-grandson, William de Percy, distinguished himself by his valour in the famous battle of the Standard. The name of this ancient and noble family was derived from their great fief of Perci, near Villedieu, in Normandy, and according to tradition they were the descendants of one Mainfred, a Dane, who had preceded Rollo into Neustria. Geoffrey, the son of Mainfred, followed him in the service of Rollo, and was succeeded in rotation by William, Geoffrey, William, and Geoffrey, all born in Normandy, the latter Geoffrey being the father of William de Percy, the subject of this notice, and of Serlo, his brother, the first abbot of Whitby, a monastery founded by William on the site of one called Skinshale, which had been destroyed by Inguar and Hubba.
  Upon this abbey William bestowed the towns of Seaxby and Everley; but resumed and regranted them to Ralph de Everley, his esquire, who had been in his service many years. Abbot Serlo, his brother, feeling injured by this proceeding, made his complaint to William Rufus, with whom he had been on terms of intimacy during the reign of his father, and the King ordered restitution to be made. Serlo, however, was not satisfied with the restoration of the towns, and having no confidence in his brother, determined to quit Whitby and establish himself where he should hold under the King only, and be out of his brother's power. He therefore begged of Rufus six carucates of land in Hakenas and Northfield, and translated thither part of the community of Whitby.
  William de Percy married a lady named Emma de Port, "in discharging of his conscience," says our ancient writer, she being "very heire" to the estates given to him by William the Conqueror, and in 1096, having joined the first Crusade in company with Robert Court-heuse, died at Montjoye, near Jerusalem, the celebrated eminence so named by the Christian Pilgrims, because from there they first caught sight of the sacred city. His body was brought back to England, and buried in the chapter house at Whitby.
  This Anglo-Norman race of the Percys apparently became extinct in the male line at the close of the 12th century by the deaths, without issue, of the four sons of his grandson William, when this great inheritance was divided between their two sisters and co-heirs, Maud, wife of William de Mauduit, Earl of Warwick, who died without issue, and Agnes, on whom the whole possessions of the Percys in England devolved, and passed with her hand to Joceleyn de Louvaine, brother of Adeliza, Queen of Henry I, who assumed the name of Percy, retaining the arms of his own family.
  From the issue of this marriage descended those great Earls of Northumberland and Worcester, whose deeds and fortunes are interwoven with the most important portions of our history from the reign of Henry III to that of Charles II.
  
  The title of Earl of Northumberland was created several times in the Peerages of England and Great Britain. Its most famous holders were the House of Percy (also Perci), who were the most powerful noble family in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages. The heirs of the Percys were ultimately made Duke of Northumberland in 1766
  
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  From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Percy:
  
  The House of Percy (old French Perci) were the most powerful noble family in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages, having descended from William de Percy who crossed from Normandy to England with William I in early December 1067 and was rebuilding York Castle in 1070. The name derives from the village of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy, the home of the family at the time of the Norman Conquest. Members have held the titles of Earl of Northumberland or Duke of Northumberland to this day, in addition to Baron Percy and other titles. In common with their rivals, the House of Neville, the Percy surname was twice adopted through marriage to an heiress. In the 12th century, the original Percy line was represented by Agnes de Percy, Baroness Percy, whose son by Joscelin of Louvain retained the Percy surname. Again in the 18th century, heiress Elizabeth Percy married Sir Hugh Smithson, who adopted the surname Percy and was created Duke of Northumberland.
  
  Recurring names in the Percy genealogy include Henry (first borne by the 7th Baron and his 10 immediate successors, including the 1st Earl and Harry Hotspur), Hugh (first borne by the 1st Duke), Joscelin (first borne by Joscelin of Louvain), and Algernon (first borne by the 1st Baron as a nickname: Aux Gernons or "with moustaches").
  
  Prominent members of the family include:
  William de Percy, 1st Baron Percy (d. 1096), nicknamed "Aux Gernons" ("with moustaches"), Norman baron who emigrated to England after the Conquest
  
  Alan de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy (ca. 1069–1135)
  
  William de Percy, 3rd Baron Percy (d. ca. 1150)
  
  William de Percy, 4th Baron Percy (1112–1168)
  
  Agnes de Percy, Baroness Percy (1134-1205) married Joscelin of Louvain (d.c. 1189)
  
  Richard de Percy, 5th Baron Percy (d. 1198), signatory to Magna Carta.
  
  William de Percy, 6th Baron Percy (1193–1245)
  
  Henry de Percy, 7th Baron Percy (1228–1272)
  
  Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Alnwick (1273–1314)
  
  Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy of Alnwick (1299–1352)
    - Henry de Percy, 3rd Baron Percy of Alnwick (see below)
    - Thomas Percy (d.1369), Bishop of Norwich
  
  Henry de Percy, 3rd Baron Percy of Alnwick (1320–1368)
  
  Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland (1341–1408) (forfeit 1405), helped Henry IV seize the throne, later rebelled against him
  
  Sir Henry Percy (1364/1366–1403), also called Harry Hotspur, helped Henry IV seize the throne but later rebelled against him, killed at the Battle of Shrewsbury
    - Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland (see below)
    - Lady Elizabeth Percy (c.1390–1437)
  
  Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland (1394–1455), supporter of King Henry VI, killed at the beginning of the Wars of the Roses
    - Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland (see below)
    - Thomas Percy, 1st Baron Egremont (1422–1460)
    - Katherine Percy, Countess of Kent (1423–c.1475)
    - Ralph Percy (d.1464), knight, Lancastrian supporter in the Wars of the Roses
    - William Percy (1428–1462), Bishop of Carlisle
  
  Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland (1421–1461) (forfeit 1461), Lancastrian leader in the Wars of the Roses   - Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland (see below)
    - Margaret Percy (b.c.1447)
   
  Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland (1449–1489) (restored 1470), aligned with Yorkists, present but inactive at the Battle of Bosworth Field
    - Henry Algernon Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland (see below)
    - Eleanor Percy, Duchess of Buckingham (1474–1530), daughter of the 4th Earl
    - Alan Percy (c.1480–1560), son of the 4th Earl, English churchman and academic
    - Anne FitzAlan, Countess of Arundel (1485–1552), daughter of the 4th Earl
    - Thomas Percy (1560–1605), great-grandson of the 4th Earl, participated in the Gunpowder Plot
  
  Henry Algernon Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland (1478–1527)
    -  Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland (1502–1537), betrothed to Anne Boleyn
    - Thomas Percy (c.1504–1537), participated the Pilgrimage of Grace revolt
          - Blessed Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland (1528–1572) (forfeit 1571; restored 1572), led the Rising of the North
           - Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland (see below)
  
  
  Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland (1532–1585)        
    - Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland (see below)
    - George Percy (1580–1632), explorer, author, early governor of Virginia
  
  Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland (1564–1632), known as "The Wizard Earl" for his intellectual pursuits, imprisoned after the Gunpowder Plot
    - Dorothy Sidney, Countess of Leicester (c.1598–1659)
    - Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle (1599–1660)
    - Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland (see below)
    - Henry Percy, Baron Percy of Alnwick (d.1659), royalist in the English Civil War
  
  Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland (1602–1668), Lord High Admiral of England, later a Parliamentarian in the English Civil War
  
  Joceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland (1644–1670)
  
  Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (1667–1722), only daughter and heiress of the 11th Earl
  
  Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Northumberland (1684–1750), son of Elizabeth Seymour
  
  Elizabeth Percy, Duchess of Northumberland, 2nd Baroness Percy (1716–1776), daughter and heiress of the 7th Duke of Somerset, married Sir Hugh Smithson (who adopted the name Percy)
  
  Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1714–1786), nee Smithson
    - Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland (1742–1817), British army officer during the American Revolutionary War  
           - Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland (1785–1847)
           - Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland (1792–1865)
    - Algernon Percy, 1st Earl of Beverley (1750–1830), second son of the 1st Duke
           - George Percy, 2nd Earl of Beverley, 5th Duke of Northumberland (see below)
           - Algernon Percy (1779–1833), diplomat
           - Hugh Percy (1784–1856), bishop
           - Josceline Percy (1784–1856), Royal Navy officer
           - William Henry Percy (1788–1855), Royal Navy officer
    - James Smithson (1764–1829), illegitimate son of the 1st Duke, associated with the Smithsonian Institution and smithsonite
  
  George Percy, 2nd Earl of Beverley, 5th Duke of Northumberland (1778–1867), politician
    - Algernon George Percy, 6th Duke of Northumberland (see below)
    - Lord Josceline Percy (1811–1881), politician
    - Lord Henry Percy (1817–1877), lieutenant-general in the British Army
  
  Algernon George Percy, 6th Duke of Northumberland (1810–1899), politician Henry George Percy, 7th Duke of Northumberland (see below)
  Lord Algernon Percy (1851–1933), politician
  
  Henry George Percy, 7th Duke of Northumberland (1846–1918), politician
    - Henry Percy, Earl Percy (1871–1909), politician
    - Alan Ian Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland (see below)
    - Eustace Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Newcastle (1887–1958), politician
  
  Alan Ian Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland (1880–1930)  
    - Henry George Alan Percy, 9th Duke of Northumberland (1912–1940), killed in World War II
    - Hugh Algernon Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland (see below)
    - Elizabeth Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton and Brandon (1916–2008)
  
  Hugh Algernon Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland (1914–1988)
    - Henry Alan Walter Richard Percy, 11th Duke of Northumberland (1953–1995)
    - Ralph George Algernon Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland (b. 1956)
           - George Dominic Percy, Earl Percy (b. May 4, 1984)
  
  

Details of William's family with Emma  de Port