The Percy Family

William de Percy, ‘als gernons’ or ‘William with the Whiskers’, traveled with Hugh d’Avranches (later Earl of Chester) from Normandy to England and was granted a Barony of 30 knight’s fees following the conquest (1066). By the time of ‘Domesday’ (a great land survey from 1086) though he held much more, including vast estates in Yorkshire. Given some of Gospatric, Earl of Northumberland’s lands as a sub-tenant by Hugh, who in turn was granted the lands by William I ‘The Conqueror’ following Gospatric’s rebellion, he helped reconstruct York Castle after it was destroyed by the Danes and accompanied William I ‘The Conqueror’ on his invasion of Scotland. He also re-founded the Abbey of St Hilda, Yorkshire, of which his brother Serlo de Percy became first Prior. He accompanied Duke Robert II of Normandy (eldest son of William ‘The Conqueror and Maud (Matilda) of Flanders) on the First Crusade and died at Montjoie (Mountjoy), near Jerusalem.

'Mountjoy', so called because it was where Christians on pilgrimage first got to see the city of Jerusalem in Israel.