Background
Northampton was the eldest son of Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton, and Mary Beaumont.
Northampton was the eldest son of Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton, and Mary Beaumont.
The following year his father was killed at the Battle of Hopton Heath and he succeeded in the earldom. Like his father, Northampton was an ardent Royalist and during the Civil War notably commanded the cavalry at the First Battle of Newbury in 1643. He was also Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire between 1660 and 1681 and Constable of the Tower of London from 1675 to 1679.
Lord Northampton married, firstly, Isabella, daughter of Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset, in 1647.
In 1730 he was created Earl of Wilmington.
Royal Society]
He sat as Member of Parliament for Warwickshire from 1640 to 1642.