Spencer "Spenny" Douglas David Compton, 7th Marquess of Northampton (born 2 April 1946) is a British peer

Peerage of the United Kingdom

The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...

.

He is the son of the Most Hon. William Compton, 6th Marquess of Northampton

William Compton, 6th Marquess of Northampton

William Bingham Compton, 6th Marquess of Northampton, DSO , known as Earl Compton from 1897 to 1913, was a British peer and soldier....

 and Ms. Virginia Lucie Heaton.

In November 1993, the State Supreme Court in New York confirmed his claim to the ownership of the Sevso Treasure

Sevso Treasure

The Sevso Treasure is a hoard of silver objects from the late Roman Empire, that may be illicit antiquities.The treasure trove consists of 14 large decorated silver vessels and the copper cauldron which contained them, and has been dated to the late fourth or early fifth century AD.Most notable is...

, a hoard of late Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 silver.

He is a Freemason, and served as the Pro Grand Master

Grand Master (Masonic)

In Freemasonry a Grand Master is the leader of the lodges within his Masonic jurisdiction. He presides over a Grand Lodge, and has certain rights in the constituent lodges that form his jurisdiction....

 of the United Grand Lodge of England

United Grand Lodge of England

The United Grand Lodge of England is the main governing body of freemasonry within England and Wales and in other, predominantly ex-British Empire and Commonwealth countries outside the United Kingdom. It is the oldest Grand Lodge in the world, deriving its origin from 1717...

 from 2001 until March 2009.

Marriages and issue

Lord Northampton has married five times. He has four children and two grandchildren.

• 1) Miss Henriette Luisa Bentinck (b. in London, 1949-2010), the daughter of Mr. Adolph Bentinck and Baroness Gabrielle de Kaszony. She married Lord Northampton in 1967 and divorced him in 1973. She has since been married to Mr. Richard Thompson and Mr. Serge Boissevain. Her first marriage produced two children.
  • Lady Lara Katrina Compton (b. 26 April 1968)
  • Daniel Bingham Compton, Earl Compton (b. 16 January 1973), married Miss Elizabeth Lucy Cardozo, and has two daughters. He is now single.
    • Lady Anastasia Henrietta G. Compton (b. 2002)
    • Lady Theodora Virginia Lucy Compton (b. 2003)

• 2) Miss Annette Mary Smallwood in 1974. They divorced in 1977. She later married and divorced the Hon. Simon Howard of Henderskelfe, with no issue from either marriage.

• 3) Miss Rosemary Ashley Morritt Hancock in 1977. They divorced in 1983.
  • Lady Emily Rose Compton (b. 1980), socialite
    Socialite
    A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
    
    , working at SCM Private.

• 4) Miss Ellen Erhardt, former wife of Michael Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray
  Viscount Cowdray
  Viscount Cowdray, of Cowdray in the County of West Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1917 for the industrialist Weetman Pearson, 1st Baron Cowdray, head of the Pearson conglomerate...
  
  , on 12 January 1985; they were divorced in 1988. They had one child:
  • Lady Louisa Cecilia Compton (b. 1985), studying at the European School of Economics
    European School of Economics
    The European School of Economics is an international business school that offers bachelor, master, MBA and certificate programmes at its campuses in London, New York, Milan, Rome, Florence and Madrid....
    
    .

• 5) Miss Pamela Martina Raphaela Haworth in 1990. Divorce pending 2011

Heirs

The Heir Apparent to the Marquessate and subsidiary titles is Northampton's only son Daniel, Earl Compton (b. 1973). Since he has, so far, fathered no sons of his own, the Heir Apparent's Heir Presumptive is his paternal uncle Lord William James Bingham Compton (b. 1947). Lord William, also has an only son James William Compton (b. 1974), who too has two daughters by his wife Natasha Somers (married 2000). The next heir Robert Edward John Compton (b. 1922) is the most senior grandson of Lord Alwyne Frederick Compton (1855–1911), the third and youngest surviving son of the 4th Marquess; Robert Compton has two sons, both of whom have sons of their own.