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Spencer Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton
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Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton, known as Lord Compton from 1796 to 1812 and as Earl Compton from 1812 to 1828, was a British nobleman and patron of science and the arts.
The second son of the 9th Earl of Northampton (later the First Marquess), Compton studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, receiving an M.A. in 1810. In 1812, following the assassination of his cousin, the prime minister Spencer Perceval, Compton, by now Earl Compton as heir to the Marquessate, took his seat for Northampton in the House of Commons.
In the Commons, Compton established a reputation as something of a maverick. Despite his family's strong Tory credentials, he often voted against the Tory government of the day. This led to his losing his seat in the general election of 1820.
On 24 July 1815 Compton married Margaret Douglas-Maclean-Clephane, who was herself a poet admired by Sir Walter Scott and William Wordsworth, although her poetry was not published. The marriage was a happy one, producing six children. The couple lived in Italy for ten years from 1820 to 1830. Compton succeeded his father as Marquess of Northampton in 1828. Following Lady Northampton's death in the latter year, Northampton returned to England. Among their children were:
Following his return to England, Compton became a prominent figure in political and cultural life. He supported the Reform Bill in the House of Lords, but became more engaged in promotion of the arts and sciences.
In 1820-22 he was president of the Geological Society of London. He served as president of the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, and in 1838 became president of the Royal Society, an office he held for ten years. He took a particular interest in geology, and particularly in fossils, although he was not himself a scientist, but more of an interested amateur. He resigned in 1848, due to his opposition to the Society's increasing professionalization. He held the position of President of the Royal Society of Literature from 1849 until his death.
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