Issue of Henry Compton, 1st Baron Compton

[S. S.]

Burke's Peerage (107th edn), p 2927 lists Henry, 1st Baron Compton as having married first, Lady Frances, daughter of the 4th Earl of Huntingdon and had 2 sons, viz. William, later 1st Earl of Northampton and Sir Thomas KB (who married Mary, Countess of Buckingham suo jure) and also 1 daughter, Margaret, who married the 4th Baron Mordaunt.

It is then stated the 1st Baron Compton married second, Anne (later wife of the Earl of Dorset), and had another son, Sir Thomas KB.

However, Wikipedia states by his first wife he only had one son, William, Earl of Northampton, while by his second wife he had Sir Thomas and Sir Henry. No mention of Margaret.

Can anyone confirm which account is correct (or neither?).

S.S.

[Paul Theroff]

I have:

Sir Henry Compton, cr 1572 [by writ] Lord Compton (16 Feb 1538 [14 Jul 1544, per HoP]-bur 10 Dec 1589); m.1st Lady Frances Hastings (d.1574); m.2nd Anna, Lady Monteagle, née Spencer (d.22 Sep 1618), later m. to Earl of Dorset

[by 1st m.]:

1a) William, 2nd Lord Compton, cr 1618 Earl of Northampton, d.London 24 Jun 1630; m.Elizabeth Spencer (d.8 May 1632)

2a) Sir Thomas, of Minstead; m.Mary, suo jure Countess of Buckingham (d.10 Apr 1632), née Beaumont, widow of Sir George Villiers

3a) Margaret; m.before 1 Oct 1593 Henry Mordaunt, 4th Lord Mordaunt (d.13 Feb 1609)


[by 2nd m.]:

4a) Sir Henry, of Brambletye, and later of Minstead (1583-1648); m.1st Lady Cecily Sackville; m.2nd Mrs Mary Paston, née Browne

[Paul Theroff]

from Collins' Peerage of 1812:

[Paul Theroff]

History of Parliament says he had one son by 1st marriage, two sons by second marriage; no mention of a daughter.

https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/compton-henry-i-1544-89

On Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at 12:42:57 PM UTC-5 Paul Theroff wrote:

[Paul Theroff]

While the will of Lord COompton mentioned all three of his sons

http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Probate/PROB_11-74-434.pdf

the will of his widow mentions only one son, Henry; she does not mention Thomas; she does mention her "son-in-law" [i.e., stepson] William, as she appointed him her executor.

http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Probate/PROB_11-132-298.pdf

I can attest that the words "in-law" and "step" were used interchangebaly even in the 1700s.

On Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at 12:36:44 PM UTC-5 S. S. wrote:

[Paul Theroff]

Complete Peerage, sub Buckingham, says that Thomas Compton died in 1626. If he had been from his father's second marriage one would have expected his mother to have mentioned him in her will. Instead, she mentioned only his younger brother Henry. Thus it seems likely that he was from the first marriage.

[Paul Theroff]

This is just to illustrate my point that "step" and "in-law" often meant the same thing in earlier times.

Walpole wrote to Mann in 1780:

"The Countess Cowper, mother-in-law of your pinchbeck Prince, is dead of a cancer. Her own son Lord Spencer is in a bad state of health. Each gets a jointure by her death."

He refers to Lady Cowper, formerly married to John Spencer. In modern terms we would call her "stepmother" to Lord Cowper, but Walpole calls her "mother-in-law". Lord Cowper is the "pinchbeck Prince" because he had been created an Imperial Prince in 1778.

On Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at 1:44:19 PM UTC-5 Paul Theroff wrote:

[S. S.]

Thanks Paul as always for your detailed notes and pointers. I will go with your information. Though I am now not satisfied as to who the 4th Baron Mordaunt actually married if not Margaret as above. 

S.S.

[Paul Theroff]

This is merely my opinion, but I don't think there's really much reason to doubt that Lady Mordaunt was daughter of Lord Compton and his first wife. The only evidence against it is negative evidence, i.e., that Wikipedia and History of Parliament fail to mention her as a child of Lord Compton.

We all know what the value of Wikipedia statements is, absent citations, and as for Hostory of Parliament, while it is usually accurate, it seems to have erred in the assignment of Lord Compton's sons, so might be incorrect (or at least incomplete) in not mentioning a daughter.

Collins' Peerage, Burke's, and Complete Peerage all say that Margaret was Lord Compton's daughter by his first wife. And I don't find it significant that she was not mentioned in her father's will. I suspect that daughters were often considered to have inherited all they were going to inherit when the marriage settlements were made.

[Paul Theroff]

This should settle your worries about Margaret. I asked Michael Andrews-Reading whenther he knew of any official records, and he replied:

"The will of Henry, 4th Lord Mordant, dated 6 February 1608/9, names his brother-in-law, "Lord Compton" (National Archives, PROB 11/114/84)."

Margaret's brother was Lord Compton from 1589 until he got his earldom in 1618.

On Wednesday, April 1, 2026 at 11:45:38 AM UTC-5 S. S. wrote:

[S. S.]

Thanks Paul for your efforts. Sorry to trouble you!

S.S.

[Paul Theroff]

You're very welcome. I've always enjoyed sharing the information I have found with others who are interested. Most people even in this group seem much more interested in the increasingly irrelevant existing peerage, whereas I've always been much more interested in studying them in periods when they actually mattered, so it's nice to have questions like this pop up from time to time.