Notwithstanding the alienation of some of the estates consequent upon the extinction of the Earldom of Northumberland, Elizabeth Percy, the daughter of the last earl, was the most wealthy heiress in the realm; and, accordingly, it was considered to be a matter of the greatest importance that a suitable alliance should be arranged for her with the least possible delay. When but little more than a child, in 1679, she was married to Henry Cavendish, Earl of Ogle, and heir to the Duke of Newcastle, who died in the following year. Before another year had expired, the youthful widow was again married to Thomas Thynn of Longleat; but once more the heiress became a widow very shortly after her marriage. Her second husband was murdered early in 1682, as he was passing in his coach along Pall Mall. While she was still not more than fifteen years of age, within three months after the tragedy in Pall Mall, Elizabeth Percy became the wife of Charles Seymour, sixth Duke of Somerset, by whom only she had issue: she died in 1722, leaving, besides three daughters, one only surviving son, Algernon, who in 1748 succeeded his father as seventh Duke of Somerset. In 1749 this duke was created Baron of Warkworth and Earl of Northumberland, with remainder of those dignities to the heirs male of his daughter, his only surviving child, by her marriage with Sir Hugh Smithson. The duke died in 1750, when the Seymour dignities reverted to the male descendants of the Protector Somerset by his first marriage. Thus, once more, an only daughter, now bearing the paternal name of Seymour, was the heiress and representative of the Percy lords of Alnwick: and thus, by reason of his alliance with this lady, Sir Hugh Smithson became jure uxoris, by special Act of Parliament, Earl of Northumberland; and he himself, his countess, and their descendants, were empowered and authorised to take and use the surname of Percy alone, and to bear and quarter all the armorial insignia of that noble house.
The fortunate husband of this last heiress of the Percies, on the death of his grandfather, Sir Hugh Smithson, in the year 1729, succeeded to the baronetcy, which had been conferred by Charles II. in 1663 on that grandfather’s grandfather, also a Hugh Smithson. A remarkably handsome man, with a refined taste, and in many other respects well qualified for the distinguished destiny which awaited him, Sir Hugh Smithson is said to have been in no slight degree indebted for his eventual splendid matrimonial success to a previous failure. He had attracted the attention of Lady Percy, who, on hearing that some other lady had rejected the suit of Sir Hugh Smithson, expressed her surprise that any lady should have refused to accept such a man. The words of the fair and noble heiress reached the ears of the disconsolate baronet, and they promptly wrought a marvellous change in his views and aspirations. Upon the hint so given Sir Hugh spoke, and—his words were not in vain. In nearly all the “Peerages,” borrowed one from another, it is stated that this Sir Hugh Smithson early in life went to London, where he established himself in business as an apothecary. Although no slur would thus have been cast on the illustrious race, it is simply untrue. The following statement, extracted from a “Baronetage” published in 1727, may be accepted in proof:—
“The present Sir Hugh Smithson married a sister of the late Lord Langdale, and had two sons, who lived to man’s estate. Hugh, the eldest, died unmarried before his father; Langdale Smithson, the second son, married Miss Revely, by whom he left only one son, Hugh—now a minor, and a most hopeful young gentleman—so that there now remain only two heirs to the title and estate—this young gentleman, Sir Hugh’s grandson, and Hugh Smithson, of Tottenham, Esq., cousin of Sir Hugh.”
The East Garret.
The “young gentleman” in question succeeded his grandfather as Sir Hugh Smithson, of Stanwick. There was no trace in any documents or papers of his ever having been in any position but that of the acknowledged heir to a considerable estate and to a baronetage, granted to his ancestor for his loyalty and sacrifices in the royal cause during the civil wars of Charles I.[21] He married Lady Percy on the 16th of July, 1740, when he became Earl of Northumberland with all the territorial greatness attendant on that earldom.
The Garden Gate, or Warder’s Tower.
In 1766 the earl was created Duke of Northumberland and Earl Percy, with succession to his heirs male; and, finally, in 1784, the barony of Lovaine was added to the duke’s accumulated dignities, with remainder to the younger of his two sons. The duchess died in 1776, but the duke survived till 1786: they had one daughter, who died unmarried, and two sons, Hugh and Algernon, of whom the elder succeeded his father as second Duke of Northumberland, a distinguished general officer in the first American War. The second duke married, first, a daughter of the then Earl of Bute; and, secondly, Frances Julia, third daughter of Peter Burrell, Esquire, a Commissioner of the Excise, by whom he had a numerous family: the duke died in 1817, and was succeeded by Hugh, his eldest son, who thus became the third Duke of Northumberland, the princely representative of George IV. at the coronation of Charles X. of France. This third duke died, without issue, in 1847, having married Lady Charlotte Florentia Clive, youngest daughter of Earl Powis: and thus the dukedom passed to the third duke’s brother, the younger son of the second duke, who at the time of his brother’s death bore the title of Baron Prudhoe—an independent peerage to which he himself had been elevated in 1816, in consideration of his services as an officer in the navy.
Algernon Percy, fourth Duke of Northumberland, was born in 1792; in 1842 he married the Lady Eleanor Grosvenor, daughter of the Marquis of Westminster; in 1847 he succeeded to the honours and possessions of his family; he was created a K.G. in 1852, when he also held the office of First Lord of the Admiralty; and on February 12th, 1865, he died at Alnwick Castle, and, as his brother and predecessor had died, without any issue. Like the great soldier, with whose memory the dukedom of Wellington must ever be directly associated, Sir Algernon Percy will long be remembered with affectionate and grateful admiration as The Duke of Northumberland. A true English sailor, a princely English Nobleman, an elegant scholar and an accomplished gentleman, large of heart too and open of hand, with his commanding presence Duke Algernon looked every inch a Percy; and, in very deed, in his person were centred the brightest of the brilliant qualities of his forefathers, in happy combination with those admirable endowments that were peculiarly his own.