Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland

Political career

Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland, began his parliamentary career in July 1806 as the member for Buckingham. Later that September, following Charles James Fox’s death, he was elected to represent the City of Westminster. He chose not to contest that seat in the general election two months later, instead returning to Parliament for Launceston. In 1807, he ran for Northumberland county against Charles, Lord Howick, who withdrew, leaving Percy unopposed.

He held that seat until 1812, when he was summoned to the House of Lords under the title Baron Percy via a writ of acceleration. Upon his father’s death in 1817, he became Duke of Northumberland.

In 1825, he served as Ambassador Extraordinary at the coronation of Charles X of France, covering all expenses himself and impressing European nobility with his lavish retinue and generosity. Appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in March 1829, he held the post for about a year, overseeing the passage of the Catholic Emancipation Act. Robert Peel later called him the best chief governor Ireland ever had.

Other public positions

From 1834 to 1840, the 3rd Duke of Northumberland served as high Steward of Cambridge University, after which he became its chancellor. He was instrumental in founding the Church Building Society, which built the "Waterloo churches." He formally proposed the society at a February 1818 meeting in London’s Freemasons’ Hall, chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The society successfully lobbied Parliament for a £1,000,000 grant under the Church Building Act. Northumberland also supported early football by supplying a field for Alnwick’s annual Shrove Tuesday match and starting the tradition of presenting the ball before the game, a practice that continues. He was Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland from 1817 to 1847.

Family

The 3rd Duke of Northumberland wed Lady Charlotte Clive in April 1817 at Northumberland House. She was the daughter of the Earl of Powis and the mineral collector Henrietta Clive.

The couple had no children. He died at Alnwick in February 1847 at age 61 and was buried in the Northumberland Vault in Westminster Abbey on 23 February. His younger brother, Lord Prudhoe, inherited the title.