Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
William Compton, 4th Marquess of Northampton, (20 August 1818 – 11 September 1897), known as Lord William Compton from 1828 to 1877, was a British
peer and Royal Navy officer.
Biography
Northampton was born at York Place,
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, the second son of
Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton
Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton (2 January 1790 – 17 January 1851), known as Lord Compton from 1796 to 1812 and as Earl Compton from 1812 to 1828, was a British nobleman and patron of science and the arts.
Life
The ...
, and his wife Margaret (née Douglas-Maclean-Clephane).
He entered in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
in 1831, served during the
First Opium War
The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...
[ He retired from the active list in 1856 as captain. He was subsequently promoted rear admiral in 1869, and ]admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
in 1880 on the retired list.[
In 1877 he succeeded his elder brother in the marquessate and entered the ]House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
. Northampton was honoured on 9July 1885 when he was made a Knight of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...
.Northampton Square
Northampton Square, a green town square, is in a corner of Clerkenwell projecting into Finsbury, in Central London. It is between Goswell Road and St John Street (and Spencer and Percival Streets), has a very broad pedestrian walkway on the no ...
(Clerkenwell, central London) for Northampton Institute (so named in his honour), now City, University of London
City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...
.
Family
Lord Northampton married Eliza Harriet, daughter of Admiral the Hon. Sir George Elliot, on 21 August 1844 in Naples, Italy. As a result of her marriage, Eliza Elliot was styled as Marchioness of Northampton on 3 March 1877. Together they had five daughters and three sons. She died aged 72 on 4 December 1877 in Florence, Italy.
Children of Admiral William Compton, 4th Marquess of Northampton & his wife Eliza Harriet née Elliot
# Lady Katrine Cecilia Compton b: 1845 d. 23 Mar 1913
# Lady Margaret Georgiana Compton b: 1847 d. 15 Nov 1931
# Charles John Spencer Compton, Earl Compton b. 13 Jul 1849, d. 5 Sep 1887
# b. 23 Apr 1851, d. 15 Jun 1913
# Lady Alice Elizabeth Compton b: 1854 d. 17 Jun 1862
# Lord Alwyne Frederick Compton b. 5 Jun 1855, d. 16 Dec 1911
# Lady Mabel Violet Isabel Compton b. c 1862, d. 16 Aug 1961
# Colonel Lord Douglas James Cecil Compton b. 15 Nov 1865, d. 23 Jul 1944
Their eldest daughter, Katrine, married Francis Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper
Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper (11 June 1834 – 18 July 1905), known as Viscount Fordwich from 1837 to 1856, was a British Liberal politician. He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1880 to 1882.
Overwhelmingly by inherit ...
.
Their eldest son Charles John Spencer Compton, Earl Compton, died in 1887, without heirs. Lord Northampton survived his wife by twenty years and died on 11September 1897, aged 78.Tysoe
Tysoe is a civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District of Warwickshire, England. The parish is on the boundary with Oxfordshire, about northwest of Banbury. The parish includes the contiguous villages of Middle and Upper Tysoe and the sepa ...
in Warwickshire.William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
.
See also
*
Notes
References
*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northampton, William Compton, 4th Marquess of
1818 births
1897 deaths
Knights of the Garter
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
Royal Navy admirals
Marquesses of Northampton (1812 creation)