Sir Percival (Knights)

Percival was the son of Sir Thomas Willoughby (d 1596) of Bore Place, Kent, a first cousin of Sir Francis Willoughby of Wollaton, and his second wife Catherine Hart. Percival went abroad soon after his arranged marriage to his cousin Bridget Willoughby, and on his return the couple lived alternately with their respective in-laws. By 1595 Percival and his family were living at Middleton. His father-in-law's second marriage that year threatened to disinherit Percival from his expected estates, but Sir Francis and his new wife had just one child, a daughter, who soon died. As no will had been left, Percival had to engage in lawsuits in order to clarify the division of the estates between Bridget and her sisters. He eventually inherited the six principal manors of Wollaton, Sutton Passeys, Cossall, Trowell, Middleton and Kingsbury, plus other estates in Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire. In addition, he inherited most of his own father's estates in Kent, although these were also disputed by family members.

Percival and Bridget moved into the new Wollaton Hall in 1599. In 1603 Percival was knighted, and entertained Queen Anne and Prince Henry at Wollaton Hall. Sir Percival was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1604. Hoping to raise some money to help pay his extensive debts, in 1602 Percival leased a coal mine at Strelley in partnership with Huntingdon Beaumont. He built the first railway in Britain there, using wooden rails, in 1605, but the pit was unprofitable. He also invested in a company aiming to set up farms in Newfoundland, and in a Wollaton glassworks company.

Sir Percival suffered many years of ill health after the death of his wife in 1629. He died in August 1643.