Population decline is a problem on a lot of people's minds recently. According to a relatively recent article by the Financial Times, it is expected that Native-born British birth-rates will actually be dropping to less than the death rate by 2025. Many of this is blamed on modernity, on young people staying young for far too long, so honestly, sometimes it's fascinating to witness trends of it going back generations into the past.

A few weeks ago, I went down a rabbit hole of researching my local duke and his family. And I started noticing a pattern. they would regularly have to inherit in ways other than father to son. Today, I will be cataloguing the story.....of the Duchy of Northumberland.

But before we can get to the modern direct line....I shall share with you a few previous failed attempts at the Duchy.

1551: John Dudley, The Traitor

During the Eight Years War between Scotland and England, the Earl of Warwick, John Dudley, distinguished himself in multiple battles, as well as putting down a sizable rebellion in Norfolk. He eventually emerged, becoming the Regent for the then 12 year old King Edward VI. British history students should know very well of him as he was the sole son of Henry VIII, who is pretty much the only monarch we ever learn about in general studies. Young Edward was the entire reason Henry is still so well known, as his legend, his many wives, were all in service of producing Edward.

So yes, Mr John Dudley. He served as Edward's Regent, thanks to his high position of Lord President, and went through a lot of political backstabbing that I simply don't have the time to get into. But eventually he emerged as the Duke of Northumberland, at the age of 47. And that was when everything went rather tits up.

Two years later, King Edward fell gravely ill, and was dead by July 1553, at the young age of 15. There was much drama around the succession, and even accusations of assassination by Duke Dudley himself, though nothing proven, as it seems to have been a bad case of tuberculosis. But to keep a long story short, He pushed that his daughter in law had more claim to the throne than Edward's sister Mary, and was executed for treason not long after. Amusingly, a bastard grandson of his fled to Italy and spent his entire time there claiming to still be the Duke of Northumberland, which the current Emperor, Ferdinand II, actually officially recognised, causing tensions between the Holy Roman Emperor and England. Thankfully, nothing else came of that.

And so, the Duchy of Northumberland came to an end, for the first time.

1683: George Fitzroy, The Black's Bastard

Over a hundred years later, King Charles II (Known as The Black) would create the Duchy of Northumberland once again, handing it down to his youngest (and illegitimate) son, George Fitzroy. George also had a military career, something you can expect to see a lot of through this long tale, and assisted the French during their war with Spain in 1684.

George was married in 1686 to a woman named Catherine Wheatley, but the pair never bore any children. It should be noted that George and his brother Henry allegedly tried to ship her off to a convent in Belgium, so clearly there were problems in their marriage. Said marriage lasted for 18 years, before Catherine died and George would remarry.

However, he'd simply left it too long, and died only two years after his second marriage, in 1716, leaving behind no heirs. There is mention that he had no "Legitimate" offspring, implying there may have been some bastards running around, which makes it sad he never declared any of them to be his heir, especially given that he too, was a bastard. 

But alas, the Duchy of Northumberland did come to an end, for the second time.

A small side note here, it should be noted that after George's death, one of the Jacobites was declared to be the new Duke of Northumberland, but since there is no legal recognition to it, I won't be covering that here.

And at last, we have finally gotten to the modern line of the Duchy of Northumberland

I. 1766: Hugh Percy, The Patron

Born Hugh Smithson, he wed into the Percy name by marriage to Lady Elizabeth Seymour, changing his name to Hugh Percy in 1749. When Elizabeth's father died in 1950, he was granted the title Earl of Northumberland and 16 years later, named Duke.

He was many things. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Master of the Horse, and one of George III's advisors. He was also quite the art patron, funding architects like Robert Adam, and James Wyatt.

But eventually, he would die in 1786, at the old age of 71, and would pass his title onto…

II. 1786: Hugh Percy II, The Colonel

Hugh II was quite the soldier. He joined the army as a teenager, and by the age of 17 had made the rank of Captain. While it is mentioned that there may be some nepotism involved in his quickly making said rank, he was still a good soldier, described as “honourable, brave, and generous with his wealth”

When his father was made a Duke, he was promoted to Colonel, and partook in the American War for Independence, his battle tactics being said to save many lives, though he apparently was often in quarrels with other commanders such as General Howe, the commander of the British armies in the war.

By the time his father died, the war had been over for years, and he had divorced his former wife on the grounds of adultery, marrying a second wife with whom he would have 9 children. He is noted as being a generous leader, lowering taxes during hard times in his lands, and often speaking with his subjects.

Eventually, he would pass away after a long battle with gout in 1817, and his titles would pass on to his son...

III. 1817: Hugh Percy III, The Politician

Hugh III was known to be a politician for most of his life, taking on the title of his grandfather as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and being an Ambassador to France. He helped establish the Church Building Society, and was often renowned by his peers for his abilities.

Sadly, he is the first in his line to have sired no sons. Despite being married to his wife for 30 years, he had no children at all. And upon his death in 1847, his line would pass on to his younger brother....

IV. 1847: Algernon Percy, The Seaman

Algernon was a man much like his father, a man of the military for many years. But rather than the army like him, he would join the Navy at age 12, swiftly rising to the age of captain by the age of 22. He sailed around the world, visiting many places, and would eventually set up what is now known as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the largest lifeboat charity in Britain.

However, he ALSO sired no sons despite his marriage. And since he and his brother were the only sons of their father, the title of Duke of Northumberland passed on to....

V. 1865: George Percy, The Fleeting

George Percy was the cousin of Algernon, in fact, his older cousin. While Algernon died at the age of 72, George was 87 when he inherited the title of Duke. In fact, he was only Duke for two years. He had spent many years as a member of parliament in a “Rotten Borough”, a Borough of constituents that was so small, it barely counted. But counted it did, and George used this to be an MP for 30 years. However, all lives must come to an end, and his shortly did after claiming the title of Duke. Thankfully, unlike his cousins, he had many children, passing the title onto his eldest.....

VI. 1867: Algernon Percy II, The Scrooge

Algernon II......was a very unremarkable fellow. Yes, sadly, I genuinely can find very little about any actual deeds of his, no interesting acts, no wars fought, in fact, he was not in the military at all. He bounced around many offices of politics, but this is just par for the course in this family line. The sad thing is that the only thing notable about the man is his amusing resemblance to the Dickens character. He would eventually pass on his title to his eldest son.....

VII. 1899: Henry George Percy, The Compensator.

Much like his father, Henry sadly had very little notable to him. Bouncing around parliament for a while, and being a volunteer artilleryman for a short while, but honestly the most interesting thing about the man...was the amount of children he had. 13. The man seems to have been trying to make up for his family failings. 

To make up for this lack of interestingness, Henry's eldest son (Also named Henry) actually led quite an interesting life. Or at least, an interesting death. It's rumoured he was assassinated by Winston Churchill himself (or at least, on Churchill's orders) for sleeping with his wife. This death would sadly be many years before his father's death, who would  be succeeded nine years later by his other son....

VIII. 1918: Alan Percy, The Soldier

Alan Percy, succeeded his father at the age of 38. By this point, he had had quite a storied career in the British armed forces, fighting in the Second Boer War in Africa, receiving a medal from the Queen (Which may have been one of the last things she did, as she died in 1901, the year before said war ended). While positioned in Canada, he accepted a bet that he couldn't walk 111 miles between two cities in three days.....and he actually did it, despite it being during a blizzard.

He would then go on to serve in World War 1, was made an honorary colonel, and was apparently The National Review's go-to man for military matters. He would eventually pass on at the age of 50, quite young for a man of his clear fitness, but there is no record of the cause of his death, so it can only be assumed to be a natural one. He was succeeded by his son....

IX. 1930: George Percy, The Forgotten.

There is incredibly little known about Henry George Percy (known as George). He took on the role of Duke at the young age of 18, and was apparently known at the time as “one of Britain's most eligible bachelors”. Much like his father, he served in the armed forces, in the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards. This would sadly be cut short at the age of 27, when he was shot and killed in action, serving in Belgium during World War 2 as British forces were retreating to Dunkirk. Despite his apparent desirability, he had sired no sons, and thus, the position of Duke would pass on to his brother....

X. 1940: Hugh Percy IV, The Whip

Hugh  was also a military man, rising to the rank of Captain during World War 2, but  when he gained the rank of Duke, he transferred to an Artillery Regiment, possibly not wishing the same fate to happen to him as what happened to his brother. He would spend the rest of the war in Africa. Once the war ended, he became a Junior Whip in Churchill's caretaker government, though not much is mentioned of anything after the parliament was reformed.

Many years later, he would become the Chancellor of Newcastle University, donating many books and art to it, as well as representing them on the world stage. He would also become the Steward of Queen Elizabeth's house in the '70s, and would retain that until his death over a decade later. In fact, his eldest son Henry, would be named her godson, speaking volumes of how close he must have been to her. After he died, he was succeeded by his son....

XI. 1988: Henry Percy II, The Fatigued

Henry would have a short time as Duke, only having the role for seven years,  This was mainly due to the fact that Henry suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which in layman's terms, makes you incredibly tired. To counter his tiredness, Duke Henry would apparently take 20 pills a day just to stay awake, and thus, one day, suffered a heart failure from this medication and died.

He would leave behind no children, despite his age of being in his 40s, and having apparently had quite a few romances over the years, one of which being with the mother of supermodel Naomi Campbell. He would thus pass on his position of Duke to his younger brother and still current Duke of Northumberland….

XII. 1995: Ralph Percy, The Modern, may his reign be long.

Duke Ralph has been the Duke of Northumberland for as long as I've been alive, and yet I know very little about him. He has apparently helped local farmers by lowering their rents, and sponsored a hydroelectric generator, but other than that, he has not had much interesting history, other than his home of Alnwick Castle being used in the Harry Potter movies as Hogwarts itself. Amusingly, this seems to be a point of contention for the man, as he has recently been attempting to put up fences to get rid of youths messing around on the property.

However, it might be interesting to quickly check in on.....

XIII. 20??: George Percy III, The Heir Apparent

Young George is currently at the age of 38, and yet, still has not had any children of his own. In fact, he appears to have lived a sort of 'playboy' lifestyle as the son of a Duke, with his parents actually having to cut him off from his inheritance when he came of age. With his current childlessness, it stands to fear that the Curse of the Percy family may come around again, if George becomes the next Duke, and has no children, the title will once again have to pass sideways, to his younger brother. 

It seems to be an issue that has dogged this family, and this title, for generations.  One family line cut short immediately at its founder, due to a lack of legitimate heirs, and of the 12 Dukes we have had so far, 4 have needed to inherit their titles from those other than their fathers, with a 5th likely on the way. What causes this? Well, I'll leave this to the others on this site to speculate, but it truly is a fascinating trend to witness, and something I am genuinely curious if it will continue in the coming decades..…