Alan Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland

His Grace
The Duke of Northumberland
KG, CBE, MVO, TD

Alan Ian Percy, in a Grenadier Guards uniform, by Alexander Bassano - 1900s
Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland
In office
19 July 1918  23 August 1930
Personal details
Born (1880-04-17)17 April 1880
London
Died 23 August 1930(1930-08-23) (aged 50)
London
Spouse(s) Lady Helen Gordon-Lennox
Parents Henry Percy, 7th Duke of Northumberland
Lady Edith Campbell

Alan Ian Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland KG, CBE, MVO, TD (17 April 1880 – 23 August 1930) was the son of Henry Percy, 7th Duke of Northumberland, and Lady Edith Campbell.

Military career

Percy was a second lieutenant of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion the Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment), when he was admitted as a second lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards on 24 January 1900.[1] He served as a Captain in the Grenadier Guards during the South African War from 1901 to 1902, obtaining the Queen's Medal. In 1908 he was in the Sudan Campaign, taking part in the operations in Southern Kordofan and gaining the Egyptian medal. For a time he acted as Aide-de-Camp to Earl Grey. During his time as ADC in Canada, he undertook a wager to walk 111 miles from one city to another in three days - despite blizzards and heavy snowfall, he completed the challenge and won the wager. During the First World War he served with the Grenadier Guards, working with the Intelligence Department to provide eyewitness accounts of battles and the front line. His brother Lord William Percy also served during the War: wounded in 1915, he spent the remainder of the War working as a military attorney. He was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.

Other activities

The Duke was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland. For one year before his death he served as Chancellor of the University of Durham, a role his father had also held. From 1922 until his death he financed and directed the Patriot, a radical right-wing weekly which published Nesta Webster and promulgated a mix of anti-communism and anti-semitism.[2]

Marriage and family

On 18 October 1911, Percy married Lady Helen Magdalan Gordon-Lennox (daughter of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond). They had six children:[3]

The 8th Duke died in 1930 and was buried in the Northumberland Vault, within Westminster Abbey.[4] He was succeeded in the dukedom and his other titles by his eldest son, Henry.

Ancestry

Works

Other

References

  1. The London Gazette: no. 27156. p. 431. 23 January 1900.
  2. Markku Ruotsila, 'The Antisemitism of the Eighth Duke of Northumberland's the Patriot, 1922-1930', Journal of Contemporary History 39:1 (2004), 71–92
  3. The Peerage, entry for 8th Duke of Northumberland
  4. Elizabeth, Duchess of Northumberland - Westminster Abbey

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alan Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland.
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Henry Percy
Duke of Northumberland
1918–1930
Succeeded by
Henry Percy
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Duke of Northumberland
Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland
1918–1930
Succeeded by
Sir Charles Trevelyan, Bt
Academic offices
Preceded by
The Earl of Durham
Chancellor of the University of Durham
1929–1930
Succeeded by
The Marquess of Londonderry
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