View source for William Compton, 4th Marquess of Northampton

{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
[[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] '''William Compton, 4th Marquess of Northampton''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KG}} (20 August 1818 – 11 September 1897), known as '''Lord William Compton''' from 1828 to 1877, was a British [[Peerage|peer]] and Royal Navy officer.
== Biography ==
Northampton was born at York Place, [[Marylebone]], [[London]], the second son of [[Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton]], and his wife Margaret (née Douglas-Maclean-Clephane).<ref name=compeerage>{{cite book|title=The Complete Peerage, Volume IX|year=1936|publisher=St Catherine's Press|page=688}}</ref>
He entered in the [[Royal Navy]] in 1831, served during the [[First Opium War]]<ref name=compeerage/> He retired from the active list in 1856 as captain. He was subsequently promoted rear admiral in 1869, and [[admiral]] in 1880 on the retired list.<ref name=compeerage/>
In 1877 he succeeded his elder brother in the marquessate and entered the [[House of Lords]]. Northampton was honoured on 9{{nbsp}}July 1885 when he was made a [[Knight of the Garter]].<ref name=Knights>{{cite book|title=The Knights of England|year = 1970|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l4xUsPyL6koC|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com|isbn=978-0-8063-0443-4|page=67}}</ref>
He assumed in 1851 by Royal licence the additional surname of Maclean and in 1878 upon succeeding to the titles that of Douglas.
In 1894 he donated the lands in [[Northampton Square]] (Clerkenwell, central London) for '''Northampton Institute''' (so named in his honour), now [[City, University of London]].
==Family==
Lord Northampton married Eliza Harriet, daughter of [[George Elliot (Royal Navy officer, born 1784)|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
# [[William George Spencer Scott Compton, 5th Marquess of Northampton]] b. 23 Apr 1851, d. 15 Jun 1913
# Lady Alice Elizabeth Compton b: 1854 d. 17 Jun 1862
# [[Lord Alwyne Compton (politician)|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]].
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 11{{nbsp}}September 1897, aged 78.<ref name=Knights /> Just prior to his death, Compton purchased a country house in the village of [[Tysoe]] in Warwickshire.<ref name="Wyles2000">{{cite book|author=Kevin Wyles|title=From Thatch to Fire: The History of a Village Fire Brigade : a History of Tysoe Fire Service, the Last Thatched Fire Station in Great Britain, with a Look at the Village in Old Photographs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gD3U2Q38N64C|year=2000|publisher=Jeremy Mills Publishing|isbn=978-0-9539004-0-4|page=4}}</ref> He was succeeded in his titles by his second son [[William Compton, 5th Marquess of Northampton|William]].
==Coat of arms==
{{Emblem table
|image = {{center|[[File:Coronet of a British Marquess.svg|150px|centre]]{{Superimpose2
| align = center
| base = Order of the Garter in Heraldry.svg
| base_width = 230px
| float = Arms of Douglas-Maclean-Compton, Marquess of Northampton.svg
| float_width = 180px
| x = 25
| link = c:file:Arms of Douglas-Maclean-Compton, Marquess of Northampton.svg
}}}}
|image size =
|notes =
|coronet = A [[coronet]] of an [[Marquess]]
|crest =  1st, on a mount a beacon fired proper, behind it a ribbon inscribed with the words, ''Nisi Dominus''; 2nd, a battle-axe erect in pale, crossed by a branch of laurel and cypress in saltire, all proper; 3rd, a sanglier, sticking betwixt two clefts of an oak tree, with a chain and lock holding them, all proper, in a scroll above, ''Lock sicker''.
|escutcheon = Quarterly, Ist and 4th grand quarters sable, a lion passant guardant or, between three esquires' helmets argent (Compton); 2nd grand quarter quarterly, 1st argent, a lion rampant gules; 2nd argent, a dexter arm in armour issuing from the sinister in fesse proper, holding a cross crosslet in pale azure; 3rd per fesse argent and vert, a galley, her oars in action and sails furled sable, in base a salmon naiant proper; 4th azure, a castle triple tower proper, with flags gules (Maclean); 3rd grand quarter quarterly, 1st and 4th argent, a man's heart gules, ensigned with an Imperial crown proper, and on a chief azure, three stars of the first; 2nd and 3rd argent, three piles issuing from a chief gules, on the last two stars of the first, all within a bordure azure, charged with eight buckles or (Douglas).
|supporters = Dexter, a dragon ermine, ducally gorged and chained or; Sinister, an unicorn argent, horned, maned, hoofed, and tufted sable.
|motto = Je ne serche qu'un. ''I seek but one.''<ref>{{cite book |title= Debrett's peerage, baronetage, knightage, and companionage 1889 |date=1889 |publisher=Kelly's Directories |location=London |pages=542|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hx3x9i&seq=562&q1=compton}}</ref>}}
==See also==
* {{cite wikisource |first=William Richard |last=O'Byrne |chapter=Compton, William |title=A Naval Biographical Dictionary |year=1849 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]]}}
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, {{Page needed |date=February 2013}}
*{{Rayment|date=February 2012}}
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{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles Douglas-Compton, 3rd Marquess of Northampton|Charles Douglas-Compton]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Marquess of Northampton]]|creation=2nd creation|years=1877–1897}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Compton, 5th Marquess of Northampton|William Compton]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northampton, William Compton, 4th Marquess of}}
[[Category:1818 births]]
[[Category:1897 deaths]]
[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:Compton family|William]]
[[Category:Royal Navy admirals]]
[[Category:Marquesses of Northampton (1812 creation)]]