THE CASE OF JAMES PERCY The true Heir-Male and Claimant to the Earldom of Northumberland To the Honourable Knights Citizens and Burgesses And to the Committee of Grievances in PARLIAMENT Assembled The Humble Petition of JAMES PERCY Cozen and next Heir-Male to JOSCELIN PERCY the late and Eleventh EARL of NORTHUMBERLAND Deceased SHEWETH THAT your Petitioner was the Son of Henry Percy who was the Son of Henry Percy who was the Son of Sir Ingleram Percy who was the third Son of Henry Percy Fifth Earl of Northumberland By which Descent your Petitioner is Entitled to the Earldom of Northumberland and to several Baronies Honours Manors and Lands which to the Earldom and Baronies have been and still are annexed your Petitioner having proved his Pedigree questions not but by your Assistance to make appear they are or should be his Right and Just Inheritance as Cozen and Heir-Male to Joscelin late Earl afore-mentioned And therefore ought to fit in Parliament and enjoy the Place Seat and Preheminence of his Ancestors with the Dignities to him so descended and do of Right belong And therefore prays his Bill may be be made an Act to settle the Title and Estate together again that Property and Right may be had according to Justice That at his first coming to Claim your Petitioner petitioned the Kings most Excellent Majesty who was graciously pleased to say God forbid We should hinder an Heir but that he should have the benefit of the Law That your Petitioner applyed himself to the Lords in Parliament where he then could not prove his Great Grandfather which forc'd his Councel to tell their Lordships That the Claimants Cause lay not before them but ought to be Tryed at the Common Law first and when the Cause had went through the Inferiour Courts to prove his Pedigree and if the Law could not end it then the Cause ought to come before their Lordships again to Hear Debate and to Determine And at that time his potent Adversaries did publish in the Gazette that your Petitioner was an Impostor and at their Courts did declare to all the Tenants that the Claimants name was not Percy but that he was a Bastard and that Henry Percy whom he declared was his Father they could prove was never Married Yet they have made all the Waste imaginable cutting down Woods pulling down Castles over-working of Lead-Mines and Coal-Mines and not only so but it cast the Petitioner out of Favour in the World that His most Excellent Majesty was pleased to give the Title one way and the Land several ways which hath not only multiplied Enemies but by their Power Policy and Priviledge hath put off your Petitioner near Eleven Years Therefore your Petitioner renders this following Account that his Just Cause may be known what hard usage he hath found at Law That the first Tryal was in the year 1674. against Mr. John Clerke the chief Agent for scandalous words who shelter'd under Priviledge a long time and before the Tryal they offer'd to Own him and to assist the Claimant James Percy with their Books Pedigree and Records but would not be bound to perform Then the Plaintiff perceived it to be a baffle for a longer delay and there were no good Faith in them then said the Plaintiff Currat Lex I will have the Tryal if it be but to wash the dirt off which the Gazette and your evil practices have thrown upon me And at the Tryal the Attorney would suffer a Non-suit without the consent of his Client at which the Lord Chief Justice Hales seemed not to be satisfied but stood up and said That James Percy the Claimant and Plaintiff had proved himself a true Percy legitimate by Father and Mother Grandfather and Grandmother and of the Bloud and Family of the Percies of Northumberland and did verily believe that the Plaintiff was Cozen and next Heir-Male to Joscelin the late and 11th Earl of Northumberland only he was afraid he had taken his Descent a little too low And the Jury at a Treat which Mr. Clerke the Defendant gave them said to Mr. Clerke You are beholden to Mr. Percy for suffering a Non-suit for truly we must have given a Verdict for the Plaintiff his Cause was proved so clear and the Damages was laid in the Declaration 10000 l. The second Tryal was upon an Ejectment for Cannington and Rodoway Lands in Somersetshire which Lands of right fell to the Heirs-Males of the Percies after the Heirs-Males of the Rogers was extinct Doubtless it was by mis-information his Majesty was mistaken in his Gifts And at that Tryal the Pedigree was fully proved up to the Plaintiffs Great-Grandfather Sir Ingleram Percy youngest Son of Henry Percy 5th Earl of Northumberland by the Oath of Mr. Henry Champion who was Steward to the Earls of Northumberland and declared at that Tryal that he found in the Books and Records of the Percies that Sir Ingleram Percy was married and had Sons and Daughters so that a Verdict ought to have been had for the Plaintiffs Pedigree at that Tryal also And Sir John Coppleston did not only shelter under Priviledge but when the Writs of Error were put into the House of Lords he then sued the Plaintiff in the Court of Kings-Bench and got Cost and broke the Priviledge of Parliament The third Tryal was against one Mr. Wright for the like scandalous words where your Petitioner proved his Legitimacy again and not the Tythe of his Witnesses were examined for the Lord Chief Justice Rainsford stood up and said Gentlemen of the Jury we need not trouble the Court to examine more of the Plaintiffs Witnesses by reason his Pedigree was fully proved before at a former Tryal at the Bar of this Court And when the Jury brought in but 300 l. Damages the Lord Chief Justice was angry and told them they had undervalued the Plaintiffs Cause the Judgment exemplified under the Seal of the Court makes appear the same That the fourth Tryal against John Blakeston Esq who was likewise an Agent for the Lady Elizabeth Percy and kept her Courts and did declare the like scandalous words and gave it in all his Charges to the Jury and Tenants to take special notice thereof And at the Tryal on Monday the 11th of November 1678. the words were proved The Declaration was allowed after some debate upon a nice word which was amended But the Councel for the Defendant started up an Attainder in the Case which the Plaintiffs Councel was not prepared at that time to remove that Objection but the Tryal was put by at that time and the Jury was withdrawn as the Plaintiffs printed Book declares more at large But the second part of that Tryal was upon the 6th of February 1678. a new Jury upon the motion of the Defendants Councel did appear and the Plaintiffs Councel did clear that point concerning the Attainder by reason the Plaintiffs Councel made appear to the Court that James Percy was descended from the Body of
Henry Percy 5 th Earl of Northumberland of Sir Ingleram Percy his youngest Son and that the Collateral Line was never Attainted and therefore ought to enjoy the Title and Estate of his Ancestors Earls of Northumberland Then the Defendants Councel and the Court did own the Plaintiffs Title and Pedigree but said there was no Lands to support the Title then the Plaintiff prayed that the Court would confirm what they owned by a Rule in Court whereupon the Lord Chief Justice Scrogs stood up and said Confirm or not-confirm the Declaration is naught discharge Blakeston from the Suit of Percy notwithstanding the vast Charge the Plaintiff had been put to by the Defendants sheltering under the senior Countess of Northumberlands Priviledges And when the Duke of Monmouth had set aside her Priviledges then he shelter'd himself under the Lord of Essex his Priviledge And when the Plaintiff had made his complaint to the House of Lords the Lord of Essex did agree with the Plaintiffs Councel that if Mr. Clerk's Cost was laid down in Court for his security the Defendant Mr. Blakeston should not stand upon Priviledge but go on to Tryal Then the Lord Chief Justice Scrogs stood up and said Mr. Percy if you will lay down the 90 l. Mr. Clerk's Cost in Court the Lord of Essex will not insist upon Priviledge and we do promise you shall have a fair Tryal Whereupon the Money was tender'd accordingly and the 90 l. was got out of Court before he had notice by his Attorney Mr. Hancock or before the Tryal was ended And in truth the 90 l. the Opponents ought not to have had by reason the 90 l. Cost ought to have been set aside upon their own Demurrer Moreover it is to be noted that Sir George Jeffreys was Councel for the Plaintiff at the fore part of the Tryal and had taken 40 s. a Retaining Fee and 3 l. a Pleading Fee and had the Petitioner's Breviate but at the latter part of his Tryal pleaded against the Petitioner notwithstanding the Plaintiff tender'd him new Fees and complained of him in Court. All which caused the Plaintiff to Appeal to the Parliament by two Writs of Error to have the Errors argued and his Title to be brought to an Issue to be call'd to the Place and Seat of his Ancestors according to his Birthright That the Kings most Excellent Majesty hath been graciously pleased to referr your Petitioner to the Lords in Parliament to hear and determine his said Cause and to that purpose he hath been at vast Charges in renewing his two Writs of Error after every Prorogation and his Attorney hath received 60 l. only for the Kings hand besides all other Charges which far exceeded And his said Attorney did promise your Petitioner to get all his Breviates in a readiness against the Tryal but did altogether fail as the printed Petition hereunto annexed makes appear Moreover he told your Petitioner sometime before that he could have had a hundred Goineys to betray your Petitioner and some other of your Petitioners Councel have been tempted with Bribes but they were so Just as to refuse And now the Agents have surprized your Petitioner for they knew the Error must have been proved against the Plaintiff Mr. Blakeston so that they would not take their Cost for that days disappointment according to the prayer of the printed Petition but have obtained the Writ of Error to be dismist the Lords House without any fair Hearing so that all they have done and do is by way of surprizal to tire the Claimant out of his just Right He therefore most humbly beseeches the Honourable House of Commons as he is yet but a Commoner that for the Glory of God the Honour of our King and Kingdom to stand up for Justice so that Property and Right may be preserved and the Oppressed may be relieved for this is the 11 th year of your Petitioners Claim And intercede with the Kings most Excellent Majesty and the Right Honourable Lords Spiritual and Temporal not to suffer a Loyal Subject to be over-powered but that his just Claim may be heard with patience and determined in Justice and that your Petitioners Bill may be made an Act to restore the true Heir to his Birth-right and that the Title and the Estate that is now dispersed into several hands may be forthwith settled by an Act of Parliament And he shall ever pray Near 300 l. the two Writs of Error have cost for putting into Parliament continuing and renewing after every Prorogation and now they have Execution upon Blakeston's Writ of Error before the Case is heard The Attorney-General said Mr. Percy Now you have no where to Appeal but to Heaven But if Justice be not done on Earth we may fear Gods Vengeance will come from Heaven Therefore the Petitioner is forc'd to Appeal to those Worthies in the House of Commons for Justice and therefore he hath annexed the printed Petitions To the KINGS most Excellent Majesty And to the Right Honourable Lords Spiritual and Temporal in PARLIAMENT Assembled The Humble Petition of JAMES PERCY SHEWETH THat after your Petitioner's Complaint against his Attorneys James Hooton Edward Fyfield and John Hancock Mr. James Hooton one of your Petitioner's Attorneys understanding the Complaints against him sent the Writings by his Man which came too late out of which Papers his Breviates ought to have been drawn which doth testifie the Truth of your Petitioner's Complaint and what he offered to confirm upon Oath before your Lordships Therefore your Petitioner most Humbly prays That the two Writs of Error may be continued between Percy Plaintiff and Blakeston Defendant and Utting Plaintiff and Coppleston Defendant and that his Councel that he hath Retained formerly may be allowed your Petitioner to argue the said Cause that is to say Sir William Jones Serjeant Pemberton and Serjeant Simpson and that a new day may be ordered now his Witnesses are in Town and desires no longer time then his Councel may well consider And further prays That a moderate Costs may be tax'd upon account of the Attorneys Negligence And your Petitioner shall ever pray c. JAMES PERCY It is hoped that the Neglect of the Attorneys shall not destroy a man's Birth-right Title and Inheritance Your Petitioner's Cause being before your Lordships to hear and determine therefore humbly prays that a new day may be Ordered before his Witnesses be dispersed To the KINGS most Excellent Majesty in PARLIAMENT The Humble Petition of JAMES PERCY SHEWETH THat this annexed Petition fairly writ was presented at the Bar of the Lords House the 10 th Instant That your Petitioner is at a vast Charge in keeping his Witnesses in Town waiting for an Order and a Day appointed according to the prayer of the said Petition He therefore prays That your Majesty would be graciously pleased to call for the said Petition and cause it to be Read and that a short day may be appointed that a fair Hearing may be
Petitioner hath proved his Legitimacy and Pedegree at four several Tryals at Law whereof one is exemplified under the Great Seal of Your Majesties Court of Kings-Bench where Your Petitioner is now a Prisoner upon that Writ of Error the Lord Chief Justice Scroggs so wilfully gave the Cause away after Your Petitioner had fully proved his Pedegree and to be Descended from the Body of Henry Percy fifth Earl of Northumberland and Cousin and next Heir-Male to Josceline Percy late and eleventh Earl deceased Therefore He most Humbly Prays that Your Most Excellent Majesty would be Graciously pleased to Order the Lord Chancellour forthwith to call by Your Majesties Royal Writ of Summons Your Petitioner from the House of Prison to the House of Peers to take the Place and Seat of his Ancestors Earls of Northumberland as it is his Birth-right and Title proved at Law God in his Justice and Mercy restor'd Your Majesty to Your Crown and Kingdoms even so let Your Majesty in Equity and Pity Restore Your poor Distressed Subject And Your Petitioner shall ever Pray c. JAMES PERCY THis Petition was offer'd to His Majesty the 24th of January 1680 1. and His Majesty was pleas'd to say He would not receive it But said You may go where You please Which Saying was taken for an Answer to that Petition presented the 17 of January Wherein it was to be understood the Petitioner had prepared his Complaints for the House of Commons It is to be noted That the Gentlemen who attended the King said Yonder is the E. of Northumberland with a Petition why should Your Majesty trouble Your self with it had You not one the other day reject it I have found His Most Excellent Majesty hath been inclinable to Justice all along but still is obstructed by one means or other But the plain Truth is His Majesty would not be seen to give and ungive at his own pleasure His Majesty being mistaken in his Guilts Therefore was Graciously pleased the Lords should Hear and Determine the said Cause And to that purpose did come down to the Bar in the House of Lords to hear the Cause Himself but was disappointed as by the Petitions and Affiidavits appear But the said Cause having been continued a long time at such a vast Charge and then to be slightly blown over without a fair Hearing all the World much admires For the clearing up of the Pedigree would have confirm'd the Errors Therefore Your Petitioner Appeals to the Honourable House of Commons And most Humbly and Earnestly prays your Assistance to enquire the Reason why and how the Writts of Errors came to be dismist And that they may be Re-manded back that a fair Hearing may be had according to the Prayer of the Petitions Or that You will be pleased to cause the Heralds to enquire into the Truth of the Claimants Pedigree And that He may be call'd from the Kings Bench Prison to the House of Peers to take the Place and Seat of his Ancestors Earls of Northumberland And Your Petitioner shall ever Pray c. JAMES PERCY Right Honourable I Am your Cousin though a Prisoner descended from the Body of Henry Percy 5th Earl of Northumberland By which Descent I am Cousin and next Heir-male to Josceline Percy your Father the late and 11th Earl of Northumberland Deceased A Prison is a Grave for Men alive But when Naboth was ston'd to death then Ahab took possession of the Vinyard 1 Kings 21.18 And walking in the Garden among the Beds of Pleasure then God sent his Prophet Elias to tell Ahab of his Transgression notwithstanding he was a King Ezekiel 46.18 When Belshazzar was quaffing in the Gold and Silver Vessels of the Temple then appear'd the Hand-writing upon the Wall Dan. 5. When your late Husband the Lord Ogle went about to assume the name of Percy and to have the Percies Lands settled upon him by Act of Parliament then God call'd him to Accompt Therefore let Your Ladiship do Justice speedily and submit to Truth in Time for fear God calls You to Accompt also I believe Your Servants and Agents have rendred Me to You to be a Monster and not a Man Be not too subject to Believe Them but see with your own Eys and hear with your own Ears and admit Me into Your presence for I have somthing to offer that will add Fame to Your Honour and Rank You with those Two Worthy Women of our Family the Lady Agnes Percy who preserved the Percies Name and the Lady Lucy that settled her Estate upon the Heirs Males of the Percies for ever And for ever that Estate must attend the Title And the Fines can never be recover'd but by the true Heir-Male of the Percies Mr. Gee can inform You if he pleases how I was at Petworth in the Year 1654. And then and there made my Claim as I do now And before Mr. Clark's Tryal Your Agents with their Councel would have own'd Me to be the next Heir and would have assisted Me for the Title with their Books Pedigree and Records And also how I met with Mr. Champian and Mr. Gee at Doctor Lampley's House and there made out my Pedigree clear only I could not find out my Great Grand-fathers Name First it was a very hard Name And Secondly Mr. Champian kept it secret till he was forc'd to declare upon his Oath that Sir Ingelram Percy was Married and had Sons and Daughters at Sir John Coppleston's Tryal for Cannington and Rodaway Lands in Somersetshire Thirdly The Heralds had altogether neglected the Collateral Line of the Percies Now all my Aim is really to beget a right understanding so that I may remain Your Ladiships Real Cordial and Faithful Kinsman and most Humble Servant JAMES PERCY What I have to declare to your Ladyship is not convenient to be committed to writing but assure your self it really tends to your present Welfare and future Peace and Prosperity An Answer will find me in the Kings-Bench-Rules at the Written Table at Captain Dancer 's House in Lombard-street near the Bowling-green in the Borough of Southwark This Letter was presented the day of the date hereof and the Claymant hath printed it that the world may see that a true Percy is not ashamed of his Innocent and Just Cause nor affraid of his Potent Opponents For be whom I trust in is greater than they 5 Eccles ver 8. NOw in these our days there is no Prophet Gad Michaia Elijah nor Interpreters ☞ of Dreams like Joseph and Daniel that dares presume to speak to Kings as they did in those days Therefore James Percy the true Heir male of the Percies Earls of Northumberland humbly makes hold with the Prophet Ezekiel cap. 46. ver 18. Moreover the Prince shall not take of the Peoples Inheritance by oppression but he shall give his Sons Inheritance out of his own Possession that my People be not scattered every man from his Possession The King 's Most Excellent Majestie 's Gracious
Answer was to the Claimant's first Petition in 1670. God forbid that we should hinder an Heir but that he should have the Benefit of the Law And to that purpose His Majesty ordered Sir John Berkenhead Master of Requests then in waiting to go to the Attorney General to know why he refused to sign the Co-warrant which the Claymants Sollicitor Mr. Thomas Swain presented to him to sign But the Attorney General said He could not sign Percie 's Co-warrant by reason that he was of Council for the Countess of Northumberland And the Court of Wards being put down did much wildernize the Claimant in his Proceedings and no less than nine several Persons have stood upon and been shelter'd under Priviledge which hath been the cause of delay all this time And from that time Mr. Swayn the Claymant's Sollicitor began to play the Devil with two sticks for whilst James Percy was prosecuting the Law and delivering Declarations in Ejectments in the North the Sollicitor had contriv'd the business so as the Title and Lands were begg'd dispos'd and scatter'd before the Claymant returned and then pretended the Co-warrant with other Writings was lost which cost a considerable Sum of Money and then arrested his Clyent James Percy in three several Suits at Law which continued three years But the Sollicitor Swayn was overthrown in all the 3 Actions moreover the Claymant James Percy was in those travels poisoned at New-Castle arrested at York in two Actions of 20000 l. each Action and then durst not proceed at Law but let the Actions fall and paid 40 s. Cost a poor satisfaction for a night and two days Imprisonment and maintaining my two Men and three Horses besides the Charge of spunging Bums And the actions were in the Lord of Essex and Mr. Clark and others Names And to fill up the measure of malice they published in the English Gazette and the French Gazette That the Claymant was an Impostor And Mr. Blackston said in all these Courts That the Claymant's Name was not Percy but declared him to be a Bastard with many more scandalous wordr which were proved at that Tryal before the Lord Chief Justice Scroggs notwithstanding he discharged Mr. Blackston and Sir George Jeffreys at that Tryal took Fees on both sides so the Claymant James Percy was clearly bought and sold and proved to his Damage 12000 l. Besides it was the occasion of this his present Imprisonment upon the Writs of Error that were so strangely dismiss'd the House of Lords without any Hearing notwithstanding the renewing and continuing after every Prorogation cost in all above 300 l. And now the Claymant James Percy hath used all ways and means possible as by his Petition and publick Prints appears and cannot proceed further without the Assistance of the Honourable House of Commons His Majesty is much troubled and the Claymant really believes that His Majesty had a cordial Desire to hear and see the Cause determined as by His coming up to the Bar of the House of Lords that day the Hearing should have been had Besides His Majesty may perceive I shall never leave my Claim till Justice be done by reason I now know it is my Right by Birth and Bloud and that the sole power of creating and preserving Honour rests in His Royal Breast as Flowers in the Crown And by the Coronation-Oath the King cannot take Titles from one Peer to give to another Peer But as God hath in mercy restored His Majesty to His Crown and Kingdoms even so ought the King in Justice to restore every Loyal Subject to the Birth right Title and Inheritance of his Ancestors It was very hard at first for the Claymant to find out the Name of his great Grandfather by reason he was in his Childhood brought up amongst his Mothers Relations And in the troublesome times he being a Royallist was forced to abscond and travel for many years But the Adversaries did wildernize the Claymant in hiding his great Grandfathers Christian Name from him For Sir Ingelram Percy was the Glaymant James Percie 's Great Grandfather and youngest Son of Henry Percy 5th Earl of Northumberland and this Collateral Line was never attainted and therefore ought to be restored according to Henry Percy the 5th Earls Patent and not under the Patent of the New-Creation by Queen Mary for Thomas Percy 2d Son of the 5th Earl was attainted but Sir Ingelram Percy 3d. Son was Innocent and so hath his Issue continued to this day And therefore prays for speedy Justice Justice removes oppression Glorifies God Honours the King Rejoyces the People puts an end to your troubles and ratifies Peace for which the Petitioner prays For Henry Percy 5th Earl Great Great Grandfather had Sir Ingelram Percy Great Grandfather who had Henry Percy Grandfather and he had Henry Percy Father of the Claymant JAMES PERCY