Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Percy, Hugh (1784-1856)
PERCY, HUGH (1784–1856), successively bishop of Rochester and of Carlisle, the third son of Algernon, first earl of Beverley, by Isabella Susannah, second daughter of Peter Burrell, esq., and sister of Lord Gwydyr, was born in London on 29 Jan. 1784. His mother was sister to Frances Julia Burrell, who married Hugh Percy, second duke of Northumberland [q. v.] He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated M.A. 1805, and D.D. 1825; he was admitted ad eundem at Oxford in 1834. He subsequently joined St. John's College. Having taken holy orders, he married, 19 May 1806, Mary, eldest daughter of Manners Sutton [q. v.], archbishop of Canterbury, by whom in 1809 he was collated to the benefices of Bishopsbourne and Ivychurch, Kent. In 1810 he was appointed chancellor and prebendary of Exeter, which appointments he held till 1816. On 21 Dec. 1812 he was installed chancellor of Salisbury Cathedral. In 1816 he was collated by his father-in-law to a prebendal stall at Canterbury Cathedral, and in the same year he received the enormously rich stall of Finsbury at St. Paul's, which he held till his death. In 1822 he was made archdeacon of Canterbury, and in 1825, on the death of Dr. Gerrard Andrewes [q. v.], he was raised to the deanery. Two years later (15 July 1827), on the death of Dr. Walker King, he was consecrated bishop of Rochester, from which see, after a few months' tenure, he was translated, on the death of Dr. Samuel Goodenough [q. v.], to that of Carlisle. This bishopric he held till his death.
While dean of Canterbury he promoted the repair of the interior of the cathedral, 'clearing off the whitewash and removing modern incongruities,' personally superintending the work. As a bishop, though not approaching the modern standard of episcopal activity, Percy proved himself able and efficient. 'With him,' writes Chancellor Ferguson, 'a new regime set in,' and a quickened life began to stir in the diocese. In 1838 he established a clergy aid society, and in 1855 a diocesan education society. He found Rose Castle, the episcopal residence, much dilapidated and deformed with incongruous additions. Determined to make it worthy of the see, he called in the quaker architect Thomas Rickman [q. v.], under whose directions the house was entirely remodelled without any detriment to its mediaeval character. The main cost was defrayed out of the episcopal revenues, but he is stated to have spent 40,000l. of his own money on the gardens, grounds, and outbuildings. A rosary, in which he delighted, was laid out by Sir Joseph Paxton [q. v.], who also formed the terraced gardens. A prelate of the old school, he is described as a genial specimen of a courtly country gentleman. He was fond of farming, in which he showed much practical skill. Few were better judges of a horse. On his long journeys to and from London, to attend the House of Lords, he used to drive his four horses himself. He died at Rose Castle on 5 Feb. 1856, and was buried in the parish churchyard of Dalston. His first wife, by whom he had a large family of three sons and eight daughters, died in September 1831. He married, secondly, in February 1840, Mary, the daughter of Sir William Hope Johnstone, G.C.B. His eldest son, Algernon, married Emily, daughter of Bishop Reginald Heber [q. v.], and heiress of her uncle, Richard Heber [q. v.], and assumed the name of Heber in addition to his own.
[Burke's Peerage, ed. 1895, p. 1074; Gent. Mag. 1856, pt. i. p. 421 ; Le Neve's Fasti, ed. Hardy; Ferguson's Diocesan Hist. of Carlisle; private information.]