Dorothy Percy, Countess of Northumberland
Encyclopedia
Dorothy Percy, Countess of Northumberland (formerly Perrot, née
Devereux; c. 1564 – 3 August 1619) was the younger daughter of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
by Lettice Knollys
, and the wife of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland
.
of Queen Elizabeth I of England
. Her paternal grandparents were Sir Richard Devereux and Dorothy Hastings, after whom she was named. Her maternal grandparents were Sir Francis Knollys
and Lady Catherine Carey, the daughter of Mary Boleyn
, herself the sister of Queen consort Anne Boleyn
. Dorothy had an elder sister Penelope Devereux, who was said to have been the inspiration for Sir Philip Sidney
's sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella
. She had three younger brothers, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
, Walter Devereux and Francis Devereux.
In September 1576, Dorothy's father died in Dublin, Ireland
of dysentery. Two years later, her mother married secondly and in secret, Queen Elizabeth's favourite Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, thus earning the wrath of the queen, who promptly banished her from court. The marriage produced one son Robert, Baron Denbigh who was born in 1581. The boy died at the age of three. In 1589, eleven months after Leicester's death, Dorothy acquired another stepfather, Sir Christopher Blount, who was thirteen years younger than her mother.
On 25 February 1601, her brother Robert, 2nd Earl of Essex was beheaded at the Tower of London
for treason.
she married Sir Thomas Perrott, 1st Baronet of Haroldston. There were rumours at the time that Dorothy's father-in-law, John Perrot
, was an illegitimate son of Henry VIII
by his mistress Mary Berkeley. They had three daughters:
Dorothy married secondly in 1594, Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, known as "The Wizard Earl", but the marriage was not a success, and they later separated. In 1605, the earl was sent to the Tower of London
on suspicion of involvement in the Gunpowder Plot
, and he was not freed until after his wife's death.
They had four children:
Through her eldest daughter Dorothy, Countess of Leicester, she was an ancestress of Diana, Princess of Wales
.
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Devereux; c. 1564 – 3 August 1619) was the younger daughter of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, KG , an English nobleman and general. From 1573 until his death he fought in Ireland in connection with the Plantation of Ulster, where he ordered the massacre of Rathlin Island...
by Lettice Knollys
Lettice Knollys
Lettice Knollys , Countess of Essex and Countess of Leicester , was an English noblewoman and mother to the courtiers Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Lady Penelope Rich; through her marriage to Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, she incurred the Queen's undying...
, and the wife of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland KG was an English aristocrat. He was a grandee and one of the wealthiest peers of the court of Elizabeth I. Under James I, Henry was a long-term prisoner in the Tower of London. He is known for the circles he moved in as well as for his own achievements...
.
Family
Dorothy was born in about 1564, the daughter of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex and Lettice Knollys, a lady-in-waitingLady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
of Queen Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
. Her paternal grandparents were Sir Richard Devereux and Dorothy Hastings, after whom she was named. Her maternal grandparents were Sir Francis Knollys
Francis Knollys (the elder)
Sir Francis Knollys , of Greys Court, in Oxfordshire, KG was an English courtier in the service and favour of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I of England, and was a Member of Parliament for a number of constituencies....
and Lady Catherine Carey, the daughter of Mary Boleyn
Mary Boleyn
Mary Boleyn , was the sister of English queen consort Anne Boleyn and a member of the Boleyn family, which enjoyed considerable influence during the reign of King Henry VIII of England...
, herself the sister of Queen consort Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
. Dorothy had an elder sister Penelope Devereux, who was said to have been the inspiration for Sir Philip Sidney
Philip Sidney
Sir Philip Sidney was an English poet, courtier and soldier, and is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan Age...
's sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella
Astrophel and Stella
Likely composed in the 1580s, Philip Sidney's Astrophel and Stella is an English sonnet sequence containing 108 sonnets and 11 songs. The name derives from the two Greek words, 'aster' and 'phil' , and the Latin word 'stella' meaning star. Thus Astrophel is the star lover, and Stella is his star...
. She had three younger brothers, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599...
, Walter Devereux and Francis Devereux.
In September 1576, Dorothy's father died in Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
of dysentery. Two years later, her mother married secondly and in secret, Queen Elizabeth's favourite Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, thus earning the wrath of the queen, who promptly banished her from court. The marriage produced one son Robert, Baron Denbigh who was born in 1581. The boy died at the age of three. In 1589, eleven months after Leicester's death, Dorothy acquired another stepfather, Sir Christopher Blount, who was thirteen years younger than her mother.
On 25 February 1601, her brother Robert, 2nd Earl of Essex was beheaded at the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
for treason.
Marriage and children
In July 1583 at Broxbourne HertfordshireHertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
she married Sir Thomas Perrott, 1st Baronet of Haroldston. There were rumours at the time that Dorothy's father-in-law, John Perrot
John Perrot
Sir John Perrot served as Lord Deputy of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I of England during the Tudor conquest of Ireland...
, was an illegitimate son of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
by his mistress Mary Berkeley. They had three daughters:
- Penelope Perrott, married 1. William Lowrey, had issue; 2. Sir Robert Naunton, by whom she had a daughter Penelope.
- Dorothy Perrott, married James Perrott of Wallingford, by whom she had two children.
- Elizabeth Perrott
Dorothy married secondly in 1594, Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, known as "The Wizard Earl", but the marriage was not a success, and they later separated. In 1605, the earl was sent to the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
on suspicion of involvement in the Gunpowder Plot
Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...
, and he was not freed until after his wife's death.
They had four children:
- DorothyDorothy Sidney, Countess of LeicesterDorothy Sidney, Countess of Leicester was the eldest daughter of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland and the former Lady Dorothy Devereux. In 1615, she married Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester...
(c.1598- 20 August 1659), married Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of LeicesterRobert Sidney, 2nd Earl of LeicesterRobert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester was an English aristocrat and diplomat.-Life:He was the son of Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester, and his first wife, Barbara Gamage...
, by whom she had six children. - LucyLucy Hay, Countess of CarlisleLucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle was an English courtier known for her beauty and wit. She was involved in many political intrigues during the English Civil War.-Life:...
(1599/1600- 5 November 1660), married as his second wife James Hay, 1st Earl of CarlisleJames Hay, 1st Earl of CarlisleJames Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle was a Scottish aristocrat.-Life:He was the son of Sir James Hay of Fingask , and of Margaret Murray, cousin of George Hay, afterwards 1st Earl of Kinnoull.He was knighted and taken into favor by James VI of Scotland, brought into England in 1603, treated as a "prime...
. - AlgernonAlgernon Percy, 10th Earl of NorthumberlandAlgernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland, 4th Baron Percy, KG was an English military leader and a prominent supporter of constitutional monarchy.-Family background:...
(29 September 1602- 13 October 1668), married firstly, Anne Cecil, by whom he had five daughters, including Lady Elizabeth Percy, Countess of EssexElizabeth Percy, Countess of EssexLady Elizabeth Percy, Countess of Essex, Viscountess Malden was an English noblewoman, being the daughter of Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland. She was the wife of Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex, PC, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland...
; he married secondly, Lady Elizabeth Howard, by whom he had his heir, Joceline Percy, 11th Earl of NorthumberlandJoceline Percy, 11th Earl of NorthumberlandJosceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland, 5th Baron Percy was an English peer.Percy was the eldest son of Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland and his second wife, Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk...
. - Henry Percy, Lord of AlnwickHenry Percy, Baron Percy of AlnwickHenry Percy, Baron Percy of Alnwick , son of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, sat in the Short Parliament as the member for Portsmouth, and in the Long Parliament an M.P. for Northumberland; an originator of the "first army plot" in 1641, after which he retired to France...
(1604- April 1659), died unmarried.
Through her eldest daughter Dorothy, Countess of Leicester, she was an ancestress of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
.