Henry Compton, 1st Baron Compton (14 July 1544 – 10 December 1589), was an English peer and Member of Parliament. Compton was the posthumous son of Peter Compton of

Compton Wynyates Compton Wynyates is a Tudor architecture, Tudor English country house, country house in Warwickshire, England, a Grade I listed building. The Tudor period house is constructed of red brick and built around a central courtyard. It is castellate ...

and his wife Anne, daughter of

George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, 4th Earl of Waterford, 10th Baron Talbot, Order of the Garter, KG, Order of the Bath, KB, Privy Counsellor, PC ( – 26 July 1538) was the son of John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury, and Lady Catherine Sta ...

, and the grandson of Sir William Compton. He was trained in the law at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

(1563). He succeeded his father in 1544 and was knighted in 1567. He was elected a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

(MP) of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

for

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest recor ...

in 1563 and was appointed

High Sheriff of Warwickshire This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of the English county of Warwickshire. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most ...

for 1571–1572. In 1572, he was summoned to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as Baron Compton, of Compton in the County of Warwick. After his ennoblement, Lord Compton was one of the peers at the trial of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

, in 1586. Lord Compton died in December 1589, aged 45, and was succeeded in the barony by his son from his first marriage,

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, who was created

Earl of Northampton Earl of Northampton is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times. Earls of Northampton, First Creation (1071) * Waltheof (d. 1076) * Maud, Queen of Scotland (c.1074–1130/31) * Simon II de Senlis (1103–1153) * Simon II ...

in 1618.

Marriages and children

Henry Compton married, firstly, Frances, daughter of

Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon (151420 June 1561) was the eldest son of George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon and Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon, the ex-mistress of Henry VIII. His maternal first cousins included Henry S ...

, and Katherine Pole, with whom he had one son: *

William Compton, 1st Earl of Northampton William Compton, 1st Earl of Northampton, KG (died 24 June 1630), known as 2nd Baron Compton from 1589 to 1618, was an English nobleman, peer, and politician. Career Northampton was the son of Henry Compton, 1st Baron Compton, and Frances ...

He married, secondly,

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

, daughter of Sir John Spencer of

Althorp Althorp (popularly pronounced ) is a Grade I listed stately home and estate in the civil parish of Althorp, in West Northamptonshire, England of about . By road it is about northwest of the county town of Northampton and about northwest ...

and Katherine Kitson, with whom he had a further two sons, including: *Sir Thomas Compton, made a

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

at the coronation of James VI and I in 1603. In 1609 he became the third husband of

Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham (née House of Beaumont, Beaumont; c. 1570 – 19 April 1632) was an English peeress. She is perhaps best known as the mother of the royal favourite George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. She was the dau ...

, mother of the great royal favourite

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham ( ; 20 August 1592 – 23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite and self-described "lover" of King James VI and I. Buckingham remained at the heigh ...

. * Sir Henry Compton (died 1649), who married (1), Cecily, a daughter of

Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset (1561–1609) was an English aristocrat and politician, with humanist and commercial interests. Life He was the eldest son of Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, by Cecily, daughter of John Baker (died ...

, and (2) Mary, daughter of Sir George Browne of Balte.C. H. Compton, 'Brambletye House', ''Journal of the British Archaeological Association'', 41 (London 1885), p. 374.

Notes

References

* * * Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,

Marriages and children

Notes

References

Further reading