The Percevals claimed descent from an ancient Anglo-Norman family, a branch of the House of Yvery. This branch of the family traces its lineage to David Perceval, Lord of Tykenham, Rolleston, Sydenham, Moreland, Weley, and Wolmerton in Somerset, in the 16th century. His grandson, Sir
Richard Percivale (1550–1620), agent of
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, deciphered coded letters that gave Queen
Elizabeth I the first intelligence of the
Spanish Armada of 1588. Richard Percivale served as Secretary of the Court of Wards and Registrar of the Court of Wards in Ireland, where he acquired large estates. where the family owned an estate. His son
John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont (1711-1770), became a prominent politician and notably served as
First Lord of the Admiralty from 1763 to 1766. In 1762 he was created
Baron Lovel and Holland, of Enmore in the County of Somerset, in the
Peerage of Great Britain, which gave him an automatic seat in the
British House of Lords. (The second Earl's seventh son (second son from his second marriage),
Spencer Perceval, served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1809, but was
assassinated by
John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons in 1812). Lord Egmont was succeeded by his eldest son, the third Earl, who sat as a
member of parliament for
Bridgwater. His grandson, the fifth Earl, briefly represented
East Looe in the House of Commons. He was succeeded by his cousin, the sixth Earl, who had already succeeded his father as third Baron Arden (see below). He was Member of Parliament for
West Surrey. On his death, the titles passed to his nephew, the seventh Earl. He was the son of Charles George Perceval, fourth son of the second Baron Arden. He represented
Midhurst in Parliament as a
Conservative. He was succeeded by his first cousin once removed, the eighth Earl. He was the grandson of
Arthur Philip Perceval, sixth son of the second Baron Arden. On the death in 1929 of his younger brother, the ninth Earl, this line of the family also failed and the titles became dormant. At his death in 2001, the eleventh Earl was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest and sole surviving son Thomas Frederick Gerald Perceval. The twelfth Earl never married, and upon his death on 6 November 2011 the earldom and all of its subsidiary titles became extinct. The title of
Baroness Arden, of Lohort Castle in the County of Cork, was created in the
Peerage of Ireland in 1770 for Catherine Perceval, Countess of Egmont, second wife of the
second Earl of Egmont. She was the daughter of Charles Compton, younger son of
George Compton, 4th Earl of Northampton. Lady Arden was succeeded by her eldest son,
the second Baron. He represented
Launceston,
Warwick and
Totnes in Parliament and served as
Master of the Mint from 1801 to 1802. In the latter year he was created
Baron Arden, of Arden in the County of Warwick, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the third Baron, who in 1841 succeeded his cousin as sixth Earl of Egmont.
Mount Taranaki in
New Zealand was named after the second Earl of Egmont by
James Cook. ==Perceval Baronets, of Kanturk (1661)==