| Biography | William George Spencer Scott Compton, 5th Marquess of Northampton, KG (23 April 1851 15 June 1913), known as Lord William Compton from 1877 to 1887 and as Earl Compton from 1887 to 1897, was a British peer and Liberal politician.
Northampton was the second son of Admiral William Compton, 4th Marquess of Northampton, and his wife Eliza (née Elliot). He gained the courtesy title of Earl Compton in 1887 on the death of his elder brother. He served as Private Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Earl Cowper, between 1880 and 1882, and was elected to the House of Commons for Stratford-on-Avon in December 1885. He held this seat until July the following year and then sat for Barnsley from 1889 to 1897. The latter year Northampton succeeded his father in the marquessate and entered the House of Lords. He was later Special Envoy to Foreign Courts to announce the accession of King George V in 1910 and served as Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire from 1912 to 1913. In 1908 he was made a Knight of the Garter.
Lord Northampton married the Hon. Mary Florence Baring, daughter of William Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton, in 1884. She died in 1902. Northampton survived her by eleven years and died in June 1913, aged 62. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son William. |