Brief Life History of Hugh
When Hugh Percy 1st Duke of Northumberland was born in 1712, in North Dalton, Yorkshire, England, his father, Langdale Smithson, was 31 and his mother, Philladelphia Reveley, was 24. He married Elizabeth Seymour on 16 July 1740, in Iver, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 1 daughter. He died on 6 June 1786, at the age of 74, and was buried in Westminster, Middlesex, England.
Photos and Memories (3)
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Family Time Line
Sources (9)
- Hugh Smith, "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975"
- Hugh Percy, "Find A Grave Index"
- Duke Of Northumberland, "British Newspaper Archive, Family Notices"
Parents and Siblings
World Events (5)
1720 · South Sea Bubble
The South Sea Bubble Bill was passed by the House of Lords in 1720. This allowed the South Sea company to monopolize trade with South America. The company underwrote the English National Debt which promised 5% interest from the government. As shares rose exponentially, many companies were created and many fortunes were made. The stocks crashed and many people lost their money which caused them to become destitute overnight and suicide was common. Robert Walpole took charge of the South Sea Bubble Financial Crisis by dividing the national debt between the Bank of England, the Treasury, and the Sinking Fund.
1752 · Gregorian Calendar is Adopted
Gregorian calendar was adopted in England in 1752. That year, Wednesday, September 2, 1752, was followed by Thursday, September 14th, 1752, which caused the country to skip ahead eleven days.
1754 · Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War began as a North American conflict then stretched between England and France. England, along with allies, battled France in America, India, and Europe, making it arguably the first global war. The conflict ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and England was victorious. The Seven Years' war ultimately led to discontent in the colonies and the American Revolution.
Name Meaning
English (of Norman origin):
nickname from Old French percehaie ‘pierce hedge’ (Old French percer ‘to pierce, penetrate’ + haie ‘hedge, fence’), perhaps with the sense of someone breaking into an enclosure. Percehaie is the name of one of the sons of the foxes Renart and Hermeline in the medieval French epic Roman de Renart, whose earliest known version is from the 1170s. The surname is older than that, but it may originate in a nickname for the fox as ‘enclosure piercer’, perhaps amounting to ‘chicken thief’.
habitational name from any of several places called Percy in Calvados, Eure, and Manche; William de Perci, the Domesday tenant-in-chief and under-tenant of Hugh, Earl of Chester, came from either Percy-en-Auge (Eure) or Percy (Manche).
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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