Smithson made a Grand Tour and was in Venice in 1733, where he acquired two large Canalettos for his seat at Stanwick. Remnants of the Northumberland House Glass Drawing-Room are preserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Albury Park is a former residence which has been converted into apartments, while the surrounding estate is still directly owned by the Duke. Lord Josceline Percy, second son of the fifth Duke, was a politician. On 6 April 1683, he was created Duke of Northumberland. Lord Eustace Percy, seventh son of the seventh Duke, was a politician who was raised to the peerage as Baron Percy of Newcastle in 1953. The 6th Duke's eldest son, Henry, the 7th Duke, was summoned to the House of lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Lord Lovaine in 1887. He was born Hugh Smithson, the son of Langdale Smithson of Langdale, Yorkshire, and grandson of Sir Hugh Smithson, 3rd Baronet, from whom he inherited the Smithson Baronetcy in 1733. Richard de Percy, 5th Baron Percy (c. 1170–1244) (who adopted the surname Percy), was the son of Joscelin of Louvain (1121–1180), styled "brother of the queen" (referring to Adeliza of Louvain, second wife of King Henry I of England, by his wife Agnes de Perci, suo jure Baroness Percy, the heiress of the Percy estates in England.) [12] The family's London residence is Syon House in Brentford, which replaced, as their London residence, the demolished Northumberland House in the Strand. Soon after the marriage, Northumberland and his brother, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton, allegedly attempted to privately convey her abroad to an English convent in Ghent, Belgium. Upon his return to England in 1684, he was elected (10 January) and installed (8 April) Knight of the Garter. The title had no legal validity in the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1703, he succeeded the Earl of Oxford as Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Horse. An illegitimate son of one of his younger sons, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Sir Robert Dudley, claimed the dukedom when in exile in Italy. The 5th Duke was succeeded by his eldest son, Algernon, the 6th Duke, who notably served as Lord Privy Seal between 1879 and 1880 under Lord Beaconsfield. He took a somewhat prominent part in politics as a follower of Lord Bute, and was one of George III's confidential advisers. He was also childless and on his death in 1865 the barony of Prudhoe became extinct while the barony of Percy (which could be passed on through the female line) was inherited by his great-nephew, John Stewart-Murray, 7th Duke of Atholl. The duke and duchess were prominent patrons of Robert Adam for neoclassical interiors in the Jacobean mansion Northumberland House, the London seat of the Earls of Northumberland; it was demolished c. 1870–1871 to enable the creation of Trafalgar Square. On 7 April 1713, he was sworn into the Privy Council and as Chief Butler of England. The first Duke of Northumberland was born at Merton College, Oxford. He was succeeded by his fourth but eldest surviving son, Alan, the 8th Duke, whose eldest son, Henry, the 9th Duke, was killed during the retreat to Dunkirk during the Second World War. [3] Thomas Chippendale dedicated his Gentleman & Cabinet maker's director (1754) to him. Since at least the mid 18th century, the family has maintained a Northumbrian piper; the earliest known of these was Joseph Turnbull, who was painted in 1756 playing his pipes; the portrait, entitled Joseph Turnbull, Piper to the Duchess of Northumberland is at Alnwick Castle. In 1682, he was employed on secret service in Venice. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland. The Duke was succeeded in the dukedom and associated titles by his eldest son, Hugh, the 2nd Duke, a lieutenant-general in the British Army. Mary died at Frogmore House in 1738. [citation needed], Hugh died in 1786 and was buried in the Northumberland Vault, within Westminster Abbey. The title was first created in the Peerage of England in 1551 for John Dudley, 1st Earl of Warwick. Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain.