Thomas Percy (1729-1811), English clergyman and poet, was educated at Oxford and Cambridge, and became vicar of Easton-Maudit, Northamptonshire, in 1753. While at Easton-Maudit he served in several other ecclesiastic roles, including chaplain to the King. In 1782 he was made Bishop of Dromore, in County Down, Ireland, a position he held until his death.
Percy married Anne Gutteridge in 1759. Of their six children, only two, Barbara and Elizabeth, survived into adulthood. Barbara married Colonel Samuel Isted of Ecton, Northamptonshire, in 1795, and had two children: Ambrose, born February 15, 1797, and Anne, who died in 1801. Elizabeth Percy married Pierce Meade, Archdeacon of Dromore, in 1801. Anne (Gutteridge) Percy died at Dromore in 1807.
Percy was well respected in his time for his own writing as well as for his translations of Chinese and Icelandic verse, among other works. He is best known for editing a collection of poems titled Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, published in 1765, and for a popular song known as "Oh Nanny wilt thou gang wi' me," first published in Robert Dodsley's Collection of Poems in 1758 under the title "A Song" and said to be written for his future wife. Percy's literary friends included Samuel Johnson and William Shenstone, and he was related to Lord Percy, Duke of Northumberland.
From the guide to the Barbara Isted collection of Thomas Percy, 1754-1812, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)
