Sir William de Percy Knight, Lord of Topcliffe

  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information. ¹⁴⁰⁷
William de Percy II, son and heir of the first Alan de Percy, was present at king Stephen's court at Easter 1136, and at the batle of the Standard in 1138. He was the founder of Sallay abbey, and possibly of Stainfield prory, co. Lincoln; and a benefactor of Whitby and Fountains abbeys and other religious houses in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. He married, first, probably in the decade of 1230-1140, Alice or Adeliza de Tonbridge apparently the daughter of Richard son of Gilbert de Clare. He married, as his second wife & in 1164-66, Sibyl de Valognes, widow of Robert de Ros of Helmsley. William de Percy died before Easter 1175, when his barony was partitioned between the husbands of his two daughters, and was buried at Fountains abbey. Sibyl, his widow, married Ralph d'Aubigny, brother of William d'Aubigny II of Belvoir, and was living in 1212. William had three children with his first wife Adeliza de Clare, Alan de Percy, who died in his father's live time; Maud who married William third earl of Warwick as his second wife; and Agnes who married Jocelin of Louvain. William had at least four illegitimate children, Walter, Henry, Adeliz and Emma.

~Early Yorkshire Charters, Vol. XI, pp. 3-5

• Background Information. ¹⁴¹
William de Percy was son and heir of Alan de Percy by Emma de Grant. In Feb 1136, King Stephen confirmed to Whitby Abbey gifts made by him, his father, and his grandfather; and he attended the King's Court at Easter. In 1138, he was among the Yorkshire Barons who fought for Stephen at the Battle of the Standard. He witnessed the confirmation-charters of Henry II to Nostell Priory ante July 1157, and to Whitby Abbey. In 1166, he made a return of 28 fees of old feoffment, and a fraction over 8 fees of new feoffment; and he held 4 fees of the Bishop of Durham in Yorkshire. He also held ½ knight's fee of the honor of Richmond. From the terms of a fine made in 1218 between his grandson Richard de Percy and his great-grandson William, it appears that he had an inheritance in Normandy.

Sir William de Percy married Alice de Tonbridge, most likely the daughter of Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare, by Alice, sister of Ranulph, Earl of Chester, as his first wife. Alice was living in 1148. Sir William's second wife was Sibyl de Valognes, widow of Robert de Ros of Helmsley. Sir William was living in the year ending Michaelmas 1170, and probably in that in 1174, and died before Easter 1175.

~Cokayne's Complete Peerage, 2nd Edition, Vol. X. pp. 440-443

William married Adeliza de Clare, daughter of Richard de Clare Lord de Clare, 1st Earl of Hertford and Adeliza de Meschines, in 1130/1140 in England.¹⁴⁰⁷ (Adeliza de Clare was born about 1117 in Tonbridge Castle, Tonbridge, Kent, England and died between 1148 and 1166 in England.)

William next married Sibyl de Valognes. (Sibyl de Valognes died about 1218 in England ¹⁴¹ and was buried in Nun Appleton Priory ¹⁴¹.)