Compton , family , marquesses of Northampton

These records relate to two separate Manors, those of Clerkenwell and Canonbury which came into the Northampton family through the marriage in 1594 of William Compton, first earl of Northampton, to Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Sir John Spencer, Alderman of London.

Clerkenwell: It is important to note that the Manor of Clerkenwell relates to land which is not in the parish of Clerkenwell. Instead it consisted of 110 acres of land in Holloway, in the parish of St Mary, Islington. It is often known as the Manor of St Mary, Clerkenwell since it was previously in the possession of the Nunnery of St Mary at Clerkenwell. Pinks states that the Manor has been in the Compton family since the Dissolution.

The location of the manorial land is on the West side of Holloway Road at Upper Holloway from the Church of St John the Evangelist, Pemberton Gardens northwards to the Whittington Stone to Gordon Place extending across Maiden Lane, bounded by Barnsbury Manor in the South; the last field in Maiden Lane to the North (a detached part of Barnsbury Manor); by the Manors of St John of Jerusalem and Barnsbury on the West and by Highgate and the Old Great North Road on the East. Courts were occasionally held at the London Spa.

Most of the parish of Clerkenwell was included in the separate Manor of St John of Jerusalem, Clerkenwell.

Canonbury: The Manor of Canonbury was known alternatively as the Manor of Canbury. It was triangular in shape, bounded on the West by Upper Street, on the East by Lower Street (now Essex Road) and on the North by Hopping Lane (now St Paul's Road) and Balls Pond Road. Its chequered history is a diary of patronage in the sixteenth century: originally it had been presented by Ralph de Berners to the Prior and Convent of St Bartholomew, Smithfield in the thirteenth century but after the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was enjoyed briefly and in turn by Thomas Cromwell, Anne of Cleves and John Dudley later the Duke of Northumberland. The Manor was granted in 1557 to Thomas Wentworth, who then sold it to Sir John Spencer in 1570.