Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland 1564-1632

In January 1562 [his father] Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland [aged 30] and [his mother] Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland [aged 17] were married. She by marriage Countess of Northumberland. They were third cousin once removed. He a great x 5 grandson of King Edward III of England.

On 27th April 1564 Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland was born to Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland [aged 32] and Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland [aged 19] at Tynemouth Castle, Northumberland [Map].

On 22nd April 1577 [his grandfather] John Neville 4th Baron Latimer of Snape [aged 57] died. He was buried at St Michaels Church, Well. Baron Latimer of Snape abeyant between daughters [his mother] Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland [aged 32], [his aunt] Dorothy Neville Countess Exeter [aged 29], Lucy Neville [aged 28] and Elizabeth Neville [aged 27].

On 17th July 1583 Thomas Perrot [aged 30] and [his future wife] Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland [aged 19] were married. The marriage took place without the consent of the Queen to whom Dorothy was lady in Waiting for which Thomas was imprisoned in the Fleet Prison [Map]. She the daughter of Walter Devereux 1st Earl Essex and [his future mother-in-law] Lettice Knollys Countess Essex and Leicester [aged 39]. They were fifth cousins.

On 21st June 1585 [his father] Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland [aged 53] committed suicide at Tower of London [Map]. He was found dead in his bed in his cell, having been shot through the heart. A jury was at once summoned, and returned a verdict of suicide. He was buried in St Peter ad Vincula Church, Tower of London [Map]. His son Henry [aged 21] succeeded 9th Earl of Northumberland, 12th Baron Percy of Alnwick, 20th Baron Percy of Topcliffe, 3rd Baron Percy of Alnwick, 11th Baron Poynings. [his future wife] Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland [aged 21] by marriage Countess of Northumberland.

In 1588 [his step-father] Francis Fitton and [his mother] Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland [aged 43] were married. She the widow of [his father] Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland.

On 26th June 1593 Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland [aged 29] was appointed 378th Knight of the Garter by Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland [aged 59].

In 1594 Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland [aged 29] and Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland [aged 30] were married. She the daughter of Walter Devereux 1st Earl Essex and Lettice Knollys Countess Essex and Leicester [aged 50]. He the son of Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland and Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland [aged 49]. They were third cousin once removed.

In 1596 Thomas Percy [aged 36] was appointed Constable of Alnwick Castle, Northumberland [Map] by his second-cousin once-removed Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland [aged 31].

On 28th October 1596 [his mother] Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland [aged 51] died.

Before 1598 [his brother-in-law] William Herbert 1st Baron Powis [aged 24] and [his sister] Eleanor Percy Baroness Herbert [aged 14] were married. She the daughter of [his father] Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland and [his mother] Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland. They were half third cousin once removed.

Around 1598 [his daughter] Dorothy Percy Countess Leicester was born to Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland [aged 33] and [his wife] Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland [aged 34]. She married 1615 her fifth cousin once removed Robert Sidney 2nd Earl of Leicester, son of Robert Sidney 1st Earl of Leicester and Barbara Gamage Countess Leicester, and had issue.

On 5th August 1599 Alexander Radclyffe of Ordsall Hall [aged 26] died of wounds and fever in Ulster while campaigning with the [his brother-in-law] Robert Devereux 2nd Earl Essex [aged 33] during the unsuccessful attempt to bring Ireland under English control. The Queen [aged 65] herself informed his twin sister of her brother's death.

In 1600 [his daughter] Lucy Percy Countess Carlisle was born to Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland [aged 35] and [his wife] Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland [aged 36]. She was named for her mother's friend Lucy Harrington Countess Bedford [aged 20]. She married 6th November 1617 James Hay 1st Earl Carlisle.

On 29th September 1602 [his son] Algernon Percy 10th Earl of Northumberland was born to Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland [aged 38] and [his wife] Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland [aged 38]. He married (1) 1629 his fourth cousin once removed Anne Cecil, daughter of William Cecil 2nd Earl Salisbury and Catherine Howard Countess Salisbury, and had issue (2) 1st October 1642 his fourth cousin once removed Elizabeth Howard Countess Northumberland, daughter of Theophilus Howard 2nd Earl Suffolk and Elizabeth Home Countess Suffolk, and had issue.

In 1603 Robert Devereux 3rd Earl Essex [aged 11] and Frances Howard Countess Essex and Somerset [aged 12] were married. They were separated after the wedding given their young age. Essex went on a European tour from 1607 to 1609. When he returned she avoided him having fallen for Robert Carr 1st Earl Somerset [aged 16] whilst her husband was away. He was ill with smallpox. She sought an annulment with her father [his brother-in-law] Robert Devereux 2nd Earl Essex and uncle Henry Howard 1st Earl of Northampton [aged 62] acting for her. She maintained the marriage had not been consummated and was examined by ten matrons and two midwives who found her hymen intact. It was widely rumoured at the time that Sir Thomas Monson's [aged 38] daughter was a substitute, which is possible because she had requested to be veiled during the examination "for modesty's sake". He maintained he was capable with other women, but was unable to consummate his marriage blaming her. She the daughter of Thomas Howard 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 41] and Catherine Knyvet Countess Suffolk [aged 39]. He the son of Robert Devereux 2nd Earl Essex and Frances Walsingham Countess Essex [aged 36]. They were fourth cousins.

In 1604 [his son] Henry Percy was born to Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland [aged 39] and [his wife] Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland [aged 40].

In 1605 Robert Rich 1st Earl Warwick [aged 45] and [his sister-in-law] Penelope Devereux Countess Devonshire [aged 41] were divorced.

On 26th December 1605 Charles Blount 1st Earl Devonshire [aged 42] and [his sister-in-law] Penelope Devereux Countess Devonshire [aged 42] were married at Wansted House, Essex during a service conducted by Archbishop William Laud [aged 32] (future). The marriage was regarded as uncanonical and resulted in the disgrace of both parties, who were banished from King James I's court circles. She by marriage Countess Devonshire. She the daughter of Walter Devereux 1st Earl Essex and [his mother-in-law] Lettice Knollys Countess Essex and Leicester [aged 62]. They were third cousins.

On 7th July 1607 [his sister-in-law] Penelope Devereux Countess Devonshire [aged 44] died.

In 1615 [his son-in-law] Robert Sidney 2nd Earl of Leicester [aged 19] and Dorothy Percy Countess Leicester [aged 17] were married. She the daughter of Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland [aged 50] and Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland [aged 51]. He the son of Robert Sidney 1st Earl of Leicester [aged 51] and Barbara Gamage Countess Leicester [aged 52]. They were fifth cousin once removed.

On 6th November 1617 [his son-in-law] James Hay 1st Earl Carlisle [aged 37] and Lucy Percy Countess Carlisle [aged 17] were married. See Diary of Anne Clifford. The difference in their ages was 20 years. She the daughter of Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland [aged 53] and Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland [aged 53].

Diary of Anne Clifford. 28th April 1619. The 28th my Lord [aged 30] and I, my Coz. Sackville and Lady Windsor went to the Tower to see my Lady Somerset [aged 28], where we saw her little child [aged 3]¹. My Lord went to see Earl of Northumberland [aged 55]² and I and the Lady Windsor went to see Lady Shrewsbury [aged 63]³, and after supper my Lord and I went by water to Channel Row to see my Lord of Hertford [aged 79]⁴ and his Lady [aged 40] where we found my Lady Beauchamp⁵, my Lord Essex's [aged 28] Sister, then I went to Arundel House and talked with her about Lords being made Knights of the Garter.

Note 1. "Her little Child," Anne Carr, afterwards married to William 5th Earl and 1st Duke of Bedford [aged 2].

Note 2. Henry, 6th Earl, a Prisoner since the time of the Gunpowder Plot.

Note 3. Mary Cavendish, wife of Gilbert 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, was sent to the Tower in June 1611, at the same time with her niece the Lady Arabella Stuart first cousin of King James. Lady Arabella died, in the Tower, in 1615.

Note 4. Earl of Hertford son of Protector Somerset, and his 3rd wife Frances, d. of Thomas Viscount Howard of Bindon, widow of Henry Pranell, Esq., and married, 3rdly to Ludovick Stuart Duke of Lenox and Richmond [aged 44].

Note 5. Lady Frances Devereux [aged 19], and wife of William Lord Beauchamp [aged 31], afterwards Marquis of Hertford; daughter of [his brother-in-law] Queen Elizabeth's favourite, and sister of the Parliament's General.

On 3rd August 1619 [his wife] Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland [aged 55] died.

In 1629 Algernon Percy 10th Earl of Northumberland [aged 26] and Anne Cecil were married. She the daughter of William Cecil 2nd Earl Salisbury [aged 37] and Catherine Howard Countess Salisbury [aged 39]. He the son of Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland [aged 64] and Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland. They were fourth cousin once removed.

On 2nd April 1629 [his brother-in-law] William Herbert 1st Baron Powis [aged 56] was created 1st Baron Powis of Powis Castle in Powys. [his sister] Eleanor Percy Baroness Herbert [aged 46] by marriage Baroness Powis of Powis Castle in Powys.

On 5th November 1632 Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland [aged 68] died. His son Algernon [aged 30] succeeded 10th Earl of Northumberland, 13th Baron Percy of Alnwick, 21st Baron Percy of Topcliffe, 4th Baron Percy of Alnwick, 12th Baron Poynings.

Around 1635 Anthony Van Dyck [aged 35]. Portrait of Henry "Wizard Earl" Percy 9th Earl of Northumberland.

John Evelyn's Diary. 7th July 1665. To London, to Sir William Coventry [aged 37]; and so to Sion [Map], where his Majesty [aged 35] sat at Council during the contagion: when business was over, I viewed that seat belonging to the Earl of Northumberland, built out of an old nunnery, of stone, and fair enough, but more celebrated for the garden than it deserves; yet there is excellent wall-fruit, and a pretty fountain; nothing else extraordinary.