Percy, Algernon, 4th Duke of Northumberland (1792 -1865)

Algernon Percy was the second son of Hugh, 2nd Duke of Northumberland, and his second wife, Frances Julia, daughter of Peter Burrell Esq. of Beckenham in Kent. He was a distinguished naval officer and a man of science and learning, rose to the rank of Admiral, and was First Lord of the Admiralty in 1852. The ministry lapsed in January 1853, when he was made a Knight of the Garter. He was created Baron Prudhoe 27 November 1816, and succeeded his brother Hugh as Duke of Northumberland in 1847. On his succession to the Dukedom, he devoted his considerable fortune to the development of his estates, building several churches, providing lifeboats, and education for the children of fishermen and seafarers. He was a great traveller in the Middle East, and was particularly interested in Egyptian antiquities. He married secondly, 25 August 1842, Eleanor Grosvenor, eldest daughter of Richard, 2nd Marquess of Westminster, but they had no children and on his death the Barony of Prudhoe became extinct, the Barony of Percy devolved on his grand nephew and heir general John James Hugh, 7th Duke of Atholl, and the Dukedom of Northumberland passed to his cousin George, 2nd Earl of Beverley.