Dorothy Percy, Countess of Northumberland

Dorothy Devereux
Countess of Northumberland
Portrait identified as Dorothy Devereux (on the left) and her elder sister Penelope Devereux, c.1581
Spouse(s)	Sir Thomas Perrot Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland
Issue Penelope Perrot Dorothy Perrot Elizabeth Perrot Dorothy Percy Lucy Percy Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland Henry Percy, Lord of Alnwick
Father	Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
Mother	Lettice Knollys
Born	c.1564 Chartley Castle, Staffordshire, England
Died	3 August 1619 (aged 54-55)

Dorothy Percy (nee Devereux), Countess of Northumberland (formerly Perrot, née Devereux; c. 1564 – 3 August 1619) was the younger daughter of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex by Lettice Knollys, and the wife of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland.

Dorothy was born in about 1564, the daughter of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex and Lettice Knollys, a lady-in-waiting of Queen Elizabeth I of England. Her paternal grandparents were Sir Richard Devereux and Dorothy Hastings, after whom she was named. Her maternal grandparents were Sir Francis Knollys and Lady Catherine Carey, the daughter of Mary Boleyn, herself the sister of Queen consort Anne Boleyn. Dorothy had an elder sister Penelope Devereux, who was said to have been the inspiration for Sir Philip Sidney's sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella. She had three younger brothers, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, Walter Devereux and Francis Devereux.

In September 1576, Dorothy's father died in Dublin, Ireland of dysentery. Two years later, her mother married secondly and in secret, Queen Elizabeth's favourite Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, thus earning the wrath of the queen, who promptly banished her from court. The marriage produced one son Robert, Baron Denbigh who was born in 1581. The boy died at the age of three. In 1589, eleven months after Leicester's death, Dorothy acquired another stepfather, Sir Christopher Blount, who was thirteen years younger than her mother. On 25 February 1601, her brother Robert, 2nd Earl of Essex was beheaded at the Tower of London for treason. Unlike their sister Penelope, Dorothy was not suspected of playing any role in the rebellion. Essex denounced Penelope as a traitor, an act which shocked many, but did not accuse Dorothy.