Thomas Percy

Nick Groom (University of Exeter)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

Born 24 Apr 1729
Died 10 Dec 1811
Activity 1749-1811

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Poet

Other

Biographer

Resources

Percy's Works

Save to Bookshelf

Thomas Percy, clergyman, scholar, poet, was born on 24 April 1729, the son of Arthur Lowe Piercy and his wife Jane Nott. His father was a wealthy wholesale grocer and tobacconist, and later a chamberlain and bailiff of Bridgnorth, Shropshire. The young Percy (he changed the spelling of his name in 1756) exhibited an early interest in tales of chivalry, but also had a precocious literary taste and by the age of 17 had compiled a library of 265 books. He attended Newport School, from where he won an Exhibition to Christ Church, Oxford in 1746. He was awarded his BA in 1750, and three years later was ordained and awarded his MA. He received the living of Easton Maudit in Northamptonshire, which he took up in 1756 when he was also appointed rector of Wilby.

By then Percy had made the

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

1626 words

Citation: Groom, Nick. "Thomas Percy". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 March 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3532, accessed 24 November 2024.]