William de Percy

Who is William de Percy?

William de Percy, 1st feudal baron of Topcliffe in Yorkshire, known as Aux Gernons, was a Norman who arrived in England immediately after the Norman Conquest of England of 1066, and was the founder of the powerful English House of Percy.

The Cartularium abbathiae de Whitteby states that Hugh d'Avranches and William de Percy arrived in England in 1067.

It is possible that Percy had been one of the Normans to whom Edward the Confessor had given lands, but who were later expelled by Harold Godwinson. This may explain Percy's unusual epithet, Aux Gernons, as at the time Normans were generally cleanshaven and the English were not, and it may be that Percy had assimilated local custom. Later generations of Percys would use the soubriquet, as the Christian name Algernon.