Son of the first duke (d. 1786), he was educated at Eton and St John's College, Cambridge; after serving as a major general in the early days of the American Revolution he was a political opponent of William Pitt.

REFERENCES TO Hugh Percy, second duke of Northumberland:

Samuel Whitbread to Thomas Creevey, 10 November 1809 in The Creevey Papers: A Selection from the Correspondence & Diaries of the late Thomas Creevey, M.P. (London: John Murray, 1903)