Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, (c. 17146 June 1786), was an English peer, landowner, and art patron.

Origins

He was born Hugh Smithson, the son of Lansdale Smithson (b. 1682) of Langdale and Philadelphia Revely. He was a grandson of Sir Hugh Smithson, 3rd Baronet, from whom he inherited the Smithson Baronetcy in 1733.

Marriage, projects and patronages

He changed his surname to ''Percy'' in 1749, nine years after his marriage with Lady Elizabeth Seymour (1716–1776), daughter of The 7th Duke of Somerset, on 16 July 1740, through a private Act of Parliament. She was '' Baroness Percy'' in her own right, and indirect heiress of the

Percy family The English surname Percy is of Norman origin, coming from Normandy to England, United Kingdom. It was from the House of Percy, Norman lords of Northumberland, derives from the village of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. From there, it came into use ...

, which was one of the leading landowning families of England and had previously held the Earldom of Northumberland for several centuries. The title ''

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant " chieftain", particu ...

of Northumberland'' passed by special remainder to Hugh Percy, as Elizabeth's husband, when her father died on 7 February 1750; he had been created 1st Earl of Northumberland in 1749. In 1766, the earl was created 1st

Duke of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke o ...

and was created

Baron Lovaine Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

on 28 June 1784, with a special remainder in favour of his younger son, Algernon (in reference to the Louvain family of the

Landgraviate of Brabant The Landgraviate of Brabant (1085–1183) was a small medieval fiefdom west of Brussels, consisting of the area between the Dender and Zenne rivers in the Low Countries, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. Before 1085 the land had belonged ...

, which married the Percy heiress, was the origin of the Percy family of England).

Richard de Percy Sir Richard de Percy (c. 1170–1244), 5th Baron Percy, was a Magnate from the North of England, and a participant in the First Barons' War. He was the son of Agnes de Perci, ''suo jure'' Baroness Percy, the heiress of the Percy estates, and her ...

, 5th Baron Percy (c. 1170–1244) (who adopted the surname Percy), was the son of Joscelin of Louvain (1121–1180), styled "brother of the queen" (referring to

Adeliza of Louvain Adeliza of Louvain, sometimes known in England as Adelicia of Louvain, also called Adela and Aleidis; (c. 1103 – March/April 1151) was Queen of England from 1121 to 1135, as the second wife of King Henry I. She was the daughter of Godfrey I, ...

, second wife of King Henry I of England, by his wife Agnes de Perci, ''suo jure'' Baroness Percy, the heiress of the Percy estates in England.) He was created a

Knight of the Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, outranked in ...

in 1756 and a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

in 1762. He took a somewhat prominent part in politics as a follower of

Lord Bute John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He was arguabl ...

, and was one of George III's confidential advisers. He held the office of

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the King ...

from 1763 to 1765, and that of

Master of the Horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (Ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse ( la, Magister Equitu ...

from 1778 to 1780. Sir Hugh and Lord Brooke (later created Earl of Warwick) were the most important patrons of

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or ...

in England. Smithson made a

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

and was in Venice in 1733, where he acquired two large Canalettos for his seat at Stanwick. In 1736 he became one of the two vice presidents of the ''Society for the Encouragement of Learning''. He rebuilt

Stanwick Park Stanwick Park (also known as Stanwick Hall) was a Palladian country house at Stanwick St John in North Yorkshire, England. It was re-built by the 1st Duke of Northumberland, a great patron of the arts, , mostly to his own designs. The duke's pri ...

c. 1739–1740, mostly to his own designs. He was one of the 175 commissioners for the building of

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the ...

, a structure he had Canaletto paint two more large canvases, c. 1747. He built an

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. ...

, designed by

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...

, on Ratcheugh Crag, at

Longhoughton Longhoughton is a small rural village in Northumberland, England. It lies near the coast, about northeast of Alnwick, in the similarly named parish of Longhoughton. The village lies under the spectacular whinstone outcrop, Ratcheugh Crag, ne ...

Thomas Chippendale Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was a cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled ''The Gentleman and Ca ...

dedicated his ''Gentleman & Cabinet maker's director'' (1754) to him. Smithson house at Tottenham

The duke and duchess were prominent patrons of

for neoclassical interiors in the Jacobean mansion

Northumberland House Northumberland House (also known as Suffolk House when owned by the Earls of Suffolk) was a large Jacobean townhouse in London, so-called because it was, for most of its history, the London residence of the Percy family, who were the Ear ...

, the London seat of the

Earls of Northumberland The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Perci), who were the most po ...

; it was demolished 1870–1871 to enable the creation of

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

. Remnants of the Northumberland House Glass Drawing-Room are preserved at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

. The greater Adam interiors for the Duke are at

Syon House Syon House is the west London residence of the Duke of Northumberland. A Grade I listed building, it lies within the 200-acre (80 hectare) Syon Park, in the London Borough of Hounslow. The family's traditional central London residence h ...

, executed in the 1760s. At

Alnwick Castle Alnwick Castle () is a castle and country house in Alnwick in the English county of Northumberland. It is the seat of the 12th Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest and renovated and remodelled a number of times. It is a G ...

, Northumberland, the Duke employed

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...

, whose work has been effaced by later remodellings. One or other Adam designed

Brizlee Tower Brizlee Tower (sometimes Brislee Tower) is a Grade 1 listed folly set atop a hill in Hulne Park, the walled home park of the Duke of Northumberland in Alnwick, Northumberland. The tower was erected in 1781 for Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumbe ...

for the duke.

Landholdings / seats

, Northumberland *

, Middlesex *

Strand, London Strand (or the Strand) is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, Central London. It runs just over from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar, where the road becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and i ...

*Stanwick Hall,

Stanwick St John Stanwick St John is a village, civil parish, former Manorialism, manor and ecclesiastical parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, (formerly "North Riding" of Yorkshire), England. It is situated between the towns of Darlingt ...

, Yorkshire, the seat of the Smithson baronets. *

Kielder Castle Kielder Forest is a large forestry plantation in Northumberland, England, surrounding Kielder village and the Kielder Water reservoir. It is the largest man-made woodland in England with three-quarters of its covered by forest. The majority o ...

, in the

Kielder Forest Kielder Forest is a large forestry plantation in Northumberland, England, surrounding Kielder village and the Kielder Water reservoir. It is the largest man-made woodland in England with three-quarters of its covered by forest. The majority o ...

, Northumberland, a shooting box built in 1775 by the 1st Duke to his own design by William Newton.

Death and burial

Hugh died in 1786 and was buried in the

Northumberland Vault Honouring individuals with burials and memorials in Westminster Abbey has a long tradition. History Henry III rebuilt Westminster Abbey in honour of the Royal Saint Edward the Confessor, whose relics were placed in a shrine in the sanctuary an ...

, within

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

Family

The duke and duchess had three children: *

Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland Lieutenant General Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland (14 August 174210 July 1817) was an officer in the British army and later a British peer. He participated in the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Long Island during t ...

(1742–1817) *

Algernon Percy, 1st Earl of Beverley Algernon Percy, 1st Earl of Beverley FSA (21 January 1750 – 21 October 1830), styled Lord Algernon Percy between 1766 and 1786 and known as the Lord Lovaine between 1786 and 1790, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 17 ...

(1750–1830) * Lady Elizabeth Anne Frances Percy (died 1761); buried within the Northumberland Vault in Westminster Abbey. The duke's illegitimate son (by Elizabeth Hungerford Keate Macie),

James Smithson James Smithson (c. 1765 – 27 June 1829) was an English chemist and mineralogist. He published numerous scientific papers for the Royal Society during the late 1700s as well as assisting in the development of calamine, which would eventually ...

(1765–1829), is famed for having made the founding bequest and provided the name for the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...

in Washington, D.C.

References

External links

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Northumberland, Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of 1710s births 1786 deaths British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 301 Knights of the Garter Lord-Lieutenants of Middlesex Lord-Lieutenants of Northumberland Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Hugh Percy, 01 Duke of Northumberland Fellows of the Royal Society High Sheriffs of Yorkshire Burials at Westminster Abbey Lords Lieutenant of Ireland