Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington (c. 1674 - 14 July 1743) was a British Whig statesman, known as Lord Wilmington between 1728 and 1730. He served as the de facto Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1742 until his death in 1743, but was merely a figurehead for the true leaders of government (namely John Carteret, 3rd Baron Carteret).

Compton, the third son of James Spencer Compton, 3rd Earl of Northampton, was educated at St Paul's and Trinity College, Oxford, then was accepted into Middle Temple. He entered the House of Commons for the first time in 1698. He became Speaker of the House of Commons in 1715, a post that he held until 1727, and was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1716. He served as Paymaster General from 1722 to 1730, when he entered the government of Sir Robert Walpole as Lord Privy Seal.

In 1728, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Wilmington; two years later, he was created Earl of Wilmington and Viscount Pevensey and appointed Lord President of the Council. He served in that capacity until 1742, when he succeeded Walpole at the Treasury, in an administration effectively headed by Lord Carteret. Upon his death, Lord Wilmington was replaced by his Paymaster of the Forces, Henry Pelham.

Additionally, Lord Wilmington was created a Knight of the Bath in 1725 and a Knight of the Garter in 1733.

The Earl of Wilmington's Cabinet

References

• Burke's Peerage

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