Percy, Elizabeth, Lady (1667 -1722)

Lady Elizabeth Percy was the only surviving child of Joceline, 11th Earl of Northumberland, and Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton. His lordship died in 1670 when the ancient Earldom of Northumberland became extinct. At the age of twelve Lady Elizabeth married 27 March 1679 her first husband, Henry Cavendish, Earl of Ogle, son and heir of Henry, 1st Duke of Newcastle, a sickly lad of fourteen. He assumed the name of Percy, and it was arranged that he should tour the Continent for two years, but he died abroad on 1 November 1680. She married secondly, 15 November 1681, was Thomas Thynne of Longleat in Wiltshire. The bride left immediately after the wedding, which was not consummated, to spend a year with Lady Temple at the Hague. There she was wooed by Count Charles Konigsmark, who challenged her husband to a duel, and finally contrived his murder 12 February 1682. Her third husband, 30 May 1682, was Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset. She succeeded the Duchess of Marlborough as Mistress of the Rolls to Queen Anne.