Percy History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Percy reached England in the great wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Percy family lived in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. They claim the same ancestry as Tesson and Marmion in Normandy, both relatively rare names today. One of the oldest records was Ralph Tesson who was found in Anjou in the 10th century. He acquired a barony in Normandy and founded the abbey of Fontenay. From this House, descended the Marmions, of whom William Marmilon on Fontenay (a Tesson estate) was listed. It is generally thought that the Percys probably derive from Ernegis Tesson. 1 “The arms of these families show their common origin.” All bear a fesse with the Percys having a fesse indented. 1

Early Origins of the Percy family

The surname Percy was first found in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire where “William de Perci, who with his brother Serlo, assisted in the Conquest of England, appears in the Domesday [Book] as tenant in capite in many counties, especially in those of York and Lincoln.

Perci is the name of a parish and canton near St. Lo, in Normandy, the ancient fief on the family.” 2 Sawley in the West Riding of Yorkshire was an early home to the family. “It belonged to a Cistercian abbey in honour of the Blessed Virgin, founded here in 1146, by William de Percy, and the revenue of which, at the Dissolution, was estimated at £221.” 3

Thirsk in the North Riding of Yorkshire was home to another branch of the family. “In the reign of Henry VII., during a popular commotion, Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, and lieutenant of this county, is said to have been put to death here, beneath a very ancient elm-tree, which formerly grew on Elm Green.” 3

Again in North Yorkshire, more early records of the family were found in the parish of Lofthouse. “This place, in the Domesday Survey Lochtushum, was granted by the Conqueror to Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, who soon afterwards transferred it to the Percy family, of whom William de Percy, the third Baron, in 1133 founded at Handall, in the parish, a priory for Benedictine nuns.” 3

And yet another branch of the family was found in Wressel in the East Riding of Yorkshire. “Wressel Castle was built by Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, who was made prisoner at the battle of Shrewsbury, and afterwards beheaded; this once princely mansion continued to be a seat of the family till the reign of Charles I., when it was dismantled by order of the parliament.” 3