Name Alan 8th | ||
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Born 17 April 1880
London ( 1880-04-17 ) Died August 23, 1930, London, United Kingdom Spouse Helen Percy, Duchess of Northumberland (m. 1911) Parents Henry Percy, 7th Duke of Northumberland Children Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland Siblings Henry Percy, Earl Percy, Eustace Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Newcastle Similar People Charles Gordon‑Lennox - 7th Duke, Henry Percy - 11th Duke of N, Eustace Percy - 1st Baron Pe, Ralph Percy - 12th Duke of N, Lady Elizabeth Diana Mo | ||
Alan Ian Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland, (17 April 1880 – 23 August 1930) was the son of Henry Percy, 7th Duke of Northumberland, and Lady Edith Campbell.
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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. He served with his regiment from 1901 to 1902 in South Africa during the Second Boer War, for which he received the Queen's South Africa Medal. Following the end of the war, he returned to the United Kingdom in August 1902. 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.
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:
The 8th Duke died in 1930 and was buried in the Northumberland Vault, within Westminster Abbey. He was succeeded in the dukedom and his other titles by his eldest son, Henry.
Works
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