Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, KG PC (c. 1714 – June 6, 1786) was the son of Langdale Smithson.
The Duke was born with the name Hugh Smithson but changed the family surname to Percy when he married Elizabeth Seymour, daughter of Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset, on 16 July 1740. She was Baroness Percy in her own right, and indirect heiress of the Percy family, which was one of the leading landowning families of England, and had previously held the Earldom of Northumberland for several centuries. They had two children:
The remainder of the Duke of Somerset's title, Earl of Northumberland passed to Hugh Percy as the husband of his daughter when he died. In 1766, the earl was created 1st Duke of Northumberland and was created Baron Lovaine on 28 June 1784, with a special remainder in favour of his younger son, Algernon. He was created a Knight of the Order of the Garter (K.G.) in 1756 and a Privy Counsellor in 1762.
Sir Hugh was one of the most important patrons of Canaletto in England. The other great patron Lord Brooke (Earl of Warwick, fourth creation), of Warwick Castle was a quasi-brother-in-law. Smithson made a Grand Tour 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 re-built Stanwick Park c1739-1740, mostly to his own designs. He was one of the 175 commissioners for the building of Westminster Bridge, a structure he had Canaletto paint two more large canvases, c1747. He built an observatory, designed by Robert Adam, on Ratcheugh Crag, at Longhoughton [1]. Thomas Chippendale dedicated his Gentleman & Cabinet maker's director (1754) to him. He became 2nd Earl of Northumberland (fifth creation) on the death of his father-in-law, Duke Algernon, on 7 February 1750.
The duke and duchess were prominent patrons of Robert Adam for neoclassical interiors in the Jacobean mansion Northumberland House, the London seat of the Earls of Northumberland; it was demolished ca. 1870–1871, in connection with the creation of Trafalgar Square. Remnants of the Northumberland House Glass Drawing-Room are preserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The greater Adam interiors for the Duke are at Syon House, executed in the 1760s. At Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, the Duke employed James Wyatt, whose work has been effaced by later remodelings.
His illegitimate son (by Elizabeth Hungerford Keate), James Smithson (1765–1829), is famed for having made the founding bequest for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
[edit] References
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Francis Child William Pulteney |
Member of Parliament for Middlesex with William Pulteney 1740–1742 Sir Roger Newdigate, Bt 1742–1747 Sir William Beauchamp-Proctor, Bt 1747–1750 1740–1750 |
Succeeded by Sir William Beauchamp-Proctor, Bt George Cooke |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by New government |
Lord of the Bedchamber 1760–1762 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Denbigh |
| Preceded by The Duke of Manchester |
Lord Chamberlain to Queen Charlotte 1762–1763 |
Succeeded by The Earl Harcourt |
| Preceded by The Earl of Halifax |
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1763–1765 |
Succeeded by Viscount Weymouth |
| Preceded by The Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven |
Master of the Horse 1778–1780 |
Succeeded by The Duke of Montagu |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by Mark Kirby |
High Sheriff of Yorkshire 1738 |
Succeeded by Sir George Cooke |
| Preceded by The Earl of Tankerville |
Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland 1753–1786 |
Succeeded by The Duke of Northumberland |
| Custos Rotulorum of Northumberland 1753–1786 |
||
| Preceded by The Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
Custos Rotulorum of Middlesex 1762–1786 |
Vacant
Title next held by
Henry Dundas |
| Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex 1763–1786 |
Succeeded by In Commission |
|
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| New title | Duke of Northumberland 1766–1786 |
Succeeded by Hugh Percy |
| Preceded by Algernon Seymour |
Earl of Northumberland 1750–1786 |
|
| New title | Baron Lovaine of Alnwick 1784–1786 |
Succeeded by Algernon Percy |
| Baronetage of England | ||
| Preceded by Hugh Smithson |
Baronet (of Stanwick) 1733–1786 |
Succeeded by Hugh Percy |
