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.
Northampton was the son of Henry Compton, 1st Baron Compton, and Frances Hastings. His maternal grandparents were Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon and Catherine Pole. Catherine was a daughter of Henry Pole, 11th Baron Montacute and Lady Jane Nevill. Jane was in turn a daughter of George Nevill, 4th Baron Bergavenny and his wife Margaret, daughter of Hugh Fenn.
He notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire and of Gloucestershire and as Lord President of the Marches and of the Dominion of Wales. In 1618 he was created Earl of Northampton.
Lord Northampton married in 1599 or 1600 to Elizabeth Spencer, a daughter of Sir John Spencer who had been Lord Mayor of London in 1594. Their children included:
- Anne Compton (d. 1675), married Ulick Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde
- Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton (1601–1643)
Prince Henry's tournament
William Compton was a participant in the Accession Day tilts or tournaments at the royal court from 1589. When Prince Henry was made Prince of Wales in 1610, William distinguished himself at the tournament. He dressed as a shepherd knight and sat in a specially constructed "mount" or bower to accept challenges. An eyewitness reported:
He builded himself a bower upon the top of the wall next to St. James's Park, made in the manner of a sheepcote, and there he sat in a gray russet cloak and had a sheep crook in one hand as though he had been a shepherd, and through the top of the bower there stood up the mast of a ship gilded with gold and upon the top a pan with fire burning in it, as some thought with pitch and an iron mark to mark sheep. ...
Afterward, my Lord Compton descended from his sheepcote and mounted himself on a lofty steed, his men also attending him on horseback, every one wearing a hat of straw and their faces painted as black as the devil.[1]
The shepherd's bower was designed by Inigo Jones. The historian Roy Strong identifies this performance as a revival of Elizabethan pastoral themes, related to the shepherd knight Phillisides of Philip Sydney's Arcadia[2]
Notes
- ↑ Reports on various manuscripts: William Cleverly Alexander, vol.3, HMC (1904), pp.259–263, here spelling modernised and abbreviated.
- ↑ Strong, Roy, Henry Prince of Wales, Thames & Hudson (1986), p.159: The drawing by Jones is in the Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth House.
References
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Title last held by The Earl of Warwick |
Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire 1603–1630 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Northampton |
| Preceded by The Lord Chandos |
Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire 1622–1630 | |
| Preceded by The Lord Gerard |
Lord President of Wales Lord Lieutenant of Wales (less Glamorgan and Monmouthshire), Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire 1617–1630 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Bridgewater |
| Preceded by The Earl of Worcester |
Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire 1629–1630 | |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by Sir John Lewis |
Custos Rotulorum of Cardiganshire 1626–1630 |
Succeeded by Lord Vaughan |
| Peerage of England | ||
| New creation | Earl of Northampton 5th creation 1618–1630 |
Succeeded by Spencer Compton |
| Preceded by Henry Compton |
Baron Compton (descended by acceleration) 1589–1626 | |