Duke of Northumberland
The Duke of Northumberland is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom.
In Latin, ealdormans of Northumbrians were called Dux when they were vassals of Anglo-Saxon kings of England (Wessex). Bamburgh's lords (holders of Bernicia), Osulf I (d.963) and his son Waltheof I, founded a veritable dynasty of Northumbrian dux. Soon after the Norman Conquest of England, the huge earldom was parceled, and that dynasty's heirs continued to possess Huntingdon and Northampton in the 12th century, being then called just earls.
The title Duke of Northumberland was created in 1551 for John Dudley. The name for his dukedom was chosen because according to feudal custom, he and his family was seen (at least by they themselves) the rightful senior heir to the Bamburgh dynasty, being descended directly from daughter of Simon de St.Liz II, great-great-great-great-grandson of dux Waltheof I of Northumbrians. Northumberland advanced the claim of his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, to the English throne, but when she was deposed by Queen Mary, Dudley was convicted of high treason and executed. A bastard son of his younger son and surviving heir, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, claimed the dukedom and used the title in early 17th century when in exile. George Fitzroy, a bastard of king Charles II, was awarded the title in 1674, but it became extinct as Fitzroy left no heirs. The title was created for the third time in 1766 for heirs of a totally different family, the earlier earls of Northumberland, and it has been in the Percy family ever since. The seat of the Dukes of Northumberland is Alnwick Castle, in Alnwick, Northumberland; their London residence is Syon House in Brentford.
The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Northumberland are: Earl of Northumberland (created 1749), Earl Percy (1766), Earl of Beverley (1790), Baron Warkworth (1749) and Baron Lovaine (1784). All titles are in the Peerage of Great Britain. The courtesy title of the eldest son and heir to the Duke is Earl Percy.
Dukes of Northumberland, First Creation (1551)
- John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1502-1553) (forfeit 1553)
Dukes of Northumberland, Second Creation (1674)
- George Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1665-1716) (extinct)
Earls of Northumberland (1749)
- Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset (1684-1750)
- Hugh Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland (1714-1786) (became Duke of Northumberland in 1766)
Dukes of Northumberland, Third Creation (1766)
- Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1714-1786)
- Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland (1742-1817)
- Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland (1785-1847)
- Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland (1792-1865)
- George Percy, 5th Duke of Northumberland (1778-1867)
- Algernon George Percy, 6th Duke of Northumberland (1810-1899)
- Henry George Percy, 7th Duke of Northumberland (1846-1918)
- Alan Ian Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland (1880-1930)
- Henry George Alan Percy, 9th Duke of Northumberland (1912-1940)
- 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)
his son and heir: George Dominic Percy, Earl Percy (b. May 4 1984)
In popular culture
In the British sitcom Blackadder, Lord Percy Percy, played by Tim McInnerny, is one of the main characters in the first two series. Actually two characters with almost identical personalities, Percy is the Duke of Northumberland in the first series, The Black Adder and heir to the same title in Blackadder II, he is shown as the inept and bumbling sidekick to the title character of the series, Edmund Blackadder.