Mercy Leroux

The most British name to ever British, and background hero of We Are Not Strangers.

Though to be fair he had a pretty established ancestry as well. He was descended from, among others, Henry III of England, Henry Percy better known as Hotspur (if you’re a Shakespeare fan you’ll recognize him from Henry IV Part 1), and also a relative of the Henry Percy who had an ill-fated romance with Anne Boleyn prior to her even-worse-fated romance with Henry VIII (our Percy descended from that Henry Percy’s nephews, though, rather than the man himself, who did marry but had only a stillborn son and never seemed to get over Anne #relatable).

This Earl Percy seems to have been a pretty decent human being insofar as military commanders are concerned. He paid for all the men in his regiment to bring their families over to the colonies, and according to The History of the Northumberland Fusiliers, he paid for the return passage of those widowed at Bunker Hill and provided them five guineas upon landing.

David Hackett Fisher also reports in Paul Revere’s Ride that Earl Percy wasn’t really big on corporal punishment, but we haven’t been able to find a primary source for this. (There was the William Fanthorp case, wherein Fanthorp was let off with no corporal punishment because Percy declared the sentence not severe enough, but we’re hesitant to call that evidence Percy was opposed to flogging).

Percy arrived in Boston in early July 1774, describing it as “the most beautiful country I ever saw in my life,” then adding, “if the people were only like it, we shd do very well.” Shortly after, he sent his mother two cards that, “when put together as marked on the back, exhibit a most perfect view of the town of Boston,” alongside a card showcasing the view of their camp. (He notes that his mother had lately shown an interest in collecting these sorts of “views.”) 

In 1775, he was quartered near the so-called “Mount Whoredom” (what modern day people would probably term the red light district), which he amusingly addressed in a letter to his friend, the Reverend Thomas Percy:

“Camp on Mount Whoredom, Augt. 12. 1775. A strange place dear Dr. to write from to a Clergyman–Yet so it is, My Tent is upon the highest Summit of it.“

Like Matthew says in We Are Not Strangers, Percy was a Whig and did start off sympathetic to the colonies. That changed the more time he spent in Boston. On August 8, 1774, he wrote:

“The people here are a set of sly, artful, hypocritical rascalls, cruel, & cowards. I must own I cannot but despise them compleately.”

However his personal feelings, from another letter on August 10, 1774, he describes treating the people with basic human respect:

“I am well with the people of Boston, even with the Select Men. When the people come with complaints, I hear them with patience; and if they are just ones, I take care they shall be immediately redressed, assuring them that we are come to protect the peaceable inhabitants, not to injure them ; and that as we are determined to enforce obedience to the laws in other people, we shall be ever ready and desirous to be the first to obey them ourselves.”

On November 25, he was back to his criticism:

“The People here are the most designing, Artfull Villains in the World. They have not the least Idea of either Religion or Morality. Nor have they the least Scruple of taking the most solemn Oath on any Matter that can assist their Purpose, tho’ they know the direct contrary can be clearly & evidently proved in half an Hour.“

During the war, he was known for rescuing the returning British troops from Lexington and Concord. Despite this, he was not present in the main battle of Bunker Hill; instead he was stationed at the Boston Neck keeping up cannon fire to the rebels stationed by Roxbury. He wrote his father that he had returned to find his regiment “almost entirely cut to pieces.”

When Washington seized Dorchester Heights, General William Howe appointed Percy to lead an attack that was shortly called off due to inclement weather. After abandoning Boston for Halifax, Percy accompanied the troops to New York, where he most notably had a leading role in the Battle of Fort Washington.

In New York, Percy encountered a teenager named Bill Richmond. Bill was enslaved from birth by a reverend. Bill was such a good fighter that he beat up a bunch of British soldiers in a tavern. Impressed rather than angry, Percy arranged for Bill to be freed and brought him to England with him after Percy resigned from his position with the military due to conflicts with General Howe. There he paid for Bill’s education, and Bill went on to become an accomplished boxer. (Mercy has never seen Bridgerton, and when she relayed this story to her twin, her twin immediately recognized that Bill is, in fact, the inspiration behind William Mondrich).

Percy was not really down with marriage, since he had an arranged one that fell apart, reportedly due to his wife’s affairs. They spent about 5 years together before living separately for ten years. In 1778, he wrote that he was disinclined to marry again unless he found a second Lady Algernon, referring to his brother Algernon’s wife Isabella. Our headcanon is that Isabella promptly took this as a challenge and had to ask “Have you met… my sister?” Because…

One year after this, Percy was granted a divorce and almost immediately married Isabella’s younger sister, Frances Julia. They had nine kids together. So he did indeed find a happy ending.

Oh, and fun fact: his home, Alnwick Castle, is what the Harry Potter movies used as a stand-in for Hogwarts.

Next week, we’ll talk about Percy’s illegitimate half-brother and how he ended up being a major savior of American history, like, as a concept. But first, later this week, in our writing news, we’ll start posting “profiles” of main characters, starting with those in We Are Not Strangers.