Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton
Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton (May 1601 – 19 March 1643), styled Lord Compton from 1618 to 1630, was an
Life
Northampton was the son of
Military career
On the outbreak of the
In March 1643, he marched from Banbury to relieve Lichfield and, having failed there, proceeded to Stafford, which he occupied. Thence on 19 March, accompanied by three of his sons, he marched out with his troops and engaged Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet and Sir William Brereton at the Battle of Hopton Heath.[2]
He put to flight the enemy's cavalry and took eight guns, but in the moment of victory, while charging too far in advance, he was surrounded by the parliamentarian soldiers. To those who offered him a quarter, he answered that he scorned to take a quarter from such base rogues and rebels as they were, whereupon he was slain by a blow on the head. Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, describes his loss as a great one to the cause.[2]
Personal life
Northampton married Mary, daughter of Sir Francis Beaumont, brother of Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham. Northampton and Mary had two daughters and six sons. The four eldest sons were Cavaliers in the Civil War, often seeing action together.[2][3]
- James (1622–1681) succeeded his father as 3rd Earl of Northampton
- Charles (c. 1624–1661) MP for Northampton in 1661
- The Sealed Knot
- Spencer (c. 1629–1659), knighted in 1643 on the same day as Charles and William;[4] died in Bruges
- Francis (c. 1629–1716) MP for Warwick from 1664 to 1679
- Henry (1632–1713) bishop of London from 1675 to 1713
- Anne married Sir Hugh Cholmeley, 4th Baronet, MP for Northampton and Thirsk
- Penelope married Sir John Nicholas, MP for Ripon from 1661 to 1679
Mary, Countess of Northampton, died on 18 March 1654 at Queen's Street in London.[5]
References
- ^ . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- ^ a b c d e Chisholm 1911.
- ^
- Burman, John (1936). Gleanings from Warwickshire History. Cornish Brothers. p. 29.
- "The Dining Room". Compton Wynyates. Jarrold. 1976.
- Collins, Arthur (1756). "Compton, Earl of Northampton". Peerage of England. Vol. II (3rd ed.). London. pp. 218–228.
- Burke, Bernard (1909). A genealogical and heraldic history of the peerage and baronetage, the Privy Council, knightage and companionage. London: Harrison & Sons. p. 1512.
- ^ Metcalfe, Walter Charles (1885). A Book of Knights Banneret, Knights of the Bath, and Knights Bachelor: Made Between the Fourth Year of King Henry VI and the Restoration of King Charles II and Knights Made in Ireland, Between the Years 1566 and 1698, Together with an Index of Names. London: Mitchell and Hughes. p. 201.
- ^ Jessica L. Malay, Anne Clifford's Autobiographical Writing, 1590-1676 (Manchester, 2018), p. 132.
Attribution:
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Northampton, Earls and Marquesses of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 766.
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