Family and Education

b. 29 Jan. 1784, 4th s. of Algernon Percy^†, 1st Earl of Beverley, and bro. of George Percy, Lord Lovaine* and Hon. William Henry Percy*. m. 9 Dec. 1820, Sophia Elizabeth, da. of Moreton Walhouse of Hatherton, Staffs., 1s. d.v.p. 3da. CB 26 Sept. 1831.

Offices Held

Entered RN 1797, midshipman 1801, acting lt. 1803, lt. 1804, cdr. 1806, capt. 1806, r.-adm. 1841; command at Cape of Good Hope 1841-6; v.-adm. 1851; c.-in-c. Sheerness 1851-4.

Biography

Percy saw action in the Mediterranean in 1804 and served under Popham at the capture of Cape Town in January 1806. He did not go with Popham to Buenos Aires, but escorted a convoy from St. Helena to England in the French ship Volontaire, taken when she sailed into Table Bay in March 1806.

It is not clear whether he was in England at the time of his return for his father’s pocket borough at the general election of 1806, and for most of the next nine years he was away on active service. In December 1807 he took part in the occupation of Madeira, and the following year, as captain of the Nymphe, carried Junot away from Portugal under the terms of the convention of Cintra. Classed as ‘against the Opposition’ by the Whigs in mid March 1810, he voted with the Perceval ministry, of which his eldest brother was a junior member, on the Scheldt question, 30 Mar. 1810, and the Regency bill, 1 Jan. 1811. He served in the Channel later in the year and in South American waters from 1813 to 1815. He was listed as a supporter of the Liverpool ministry after the 1812 general election and on his return to England fulfilled their expectations. His name appears on their side in nine of the 19 divisions of the period 1816-20 for which full lists have been found, including that on Tierney’s censure motion, 18 May 1819. He is not known to have spoken in the House. At the dissolution of 1820 he made way for his brother Henry and resumed his naval career. He died 19 Oct. 1856.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: P. A. Symonds

Notes