Peter Crompton
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Peter Crompton (1765 – 23 January 1833) was an English physician, political radical and brewer.


Early life

Crompton was from a
Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
family, the third son of Joshua Crompton (died 1770), a banker there, and his wife Elizabeth Colthurst. He attended
Warrington Academy Warrington Academy, active as a teaching establishment from 1756 to 1782, was a prominent dissenting academy, that is, a school or college set up by those who dissented from the established Church of England. It was located in Warrington (then ...
from 1781, and was given some early medical training. He went on to become a medical student at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
and the
University of Leyden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...
. In Leyden he shared lodgings with
Robert Darwin Robert Waring Darwin (30 May 1766 – 13 November 1848) was an English medical doctor who is today best known as the father of naturalist Charles Darwin. He was a member of the influential Darwin–Wedgwood family. Biography Darwin was born i ...
. On the death of his elder brother, Crompton came into property, and in the end did not pursue medicine as a profession. He did give free medical care to the poor. Family properties included the manor of Mapplewell at Woodhouse Eaves in Leicestershire, acquired by Joshua Crompton.


The Derby Addresses and societies

The "Derby Address" of September 1791 from the
Derby Philosophical Society The Derby Philosophical Society was a club for gentlemen in Derby founded in 1783 by Erasmus Darwin. The club had many notable members and also offered the first institutional library in Derby that was available to some section of the public. P ...
, of which Crompton was a member, was signed by
Erasmus Darwin Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosophy, natural philosopher, physiology, physiologist, Society for Effecting the ...
, and was sent to
Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...
, as a reaction to the Birmingham "King and Country" riots of July that year. The issue was divisive in the society, and resulted in the expulsion of the Rev. Charles Hope, vicar of St Michael and St Werburgh, Derby. It was followed by a radical declaration of July 1792. It is printed as Appendix A by Jenny Graham in volume II of her work on British radicalism 1789–1799, in the form of an address "To the Friends of Free Enquiry, and the General Good", signed "S. Eyre" and given at a Derby meeting of the
Society for Political Information A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...
. In early 1792, Crompton was one of the founders of the Derby Constitutional Society, or Derby Society for Political Information, with Joseph Strutt and others including Darwin, Samuel Fox of Derby (see below), and William Ward who edited the ''Derby Mercury'' newspaper 1789–1791. They distributed works of
Tom Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In ...
. Crompton chaired the meeting at which the second Derby Address, written by
Henry Redhead Yorke Henry Redhead Yorke, in early life Henry Redhead (1772– 28 January 1813) was an English writer and radical publicist. Life Redhead was born and brought up in Barbuda, in the eastern Caribbean, to a mother who was a freed slave from Barbuda a ...
and
William Brooks Johnson William Brooks Johnson (1763–1830) (also Brookes) was an English physician and botanist. Life He was educated at Repton School and admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge in 1783, graduating M.B. in 1789. He became a medical practitioner with a ...
, was approved to be sent to the National Constituent Assembly in France. Yorke, who had recently written a pro-slavery pamphlet, at this time reversed his position and wrote an
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
answer to it; he was more radical than the generally moderate Derby reformers, such as Ward. The Derby society joined in the "Address to the National Convention of France" of November 1792, largely the work of the
London Corresponding Society The London Corresponding Society (LCS) was a federation of local reading and debating clubs that in the decade following the French Revolution agitated for the democratic reform of the British Parliament. In contrast to other reform associatio ...
. The second address was printed as a pamphlet in 1793. It was reprinted by
Thomas Spence Thomas Spence ( 17508 September 1814) was an English RadicalProperty in Land Every One's Rightin 1775. It was re-issued as ''The Real Rights of Man'' in later editions. It was also reissued by, amongst others, Henry Hyndman under the title o ...
in his ''Pig's Meat'', around 1795.


Political campaigning

In the 1796 general election, Crompton stood as a candidate for
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
, receiving the most " plumper" votes in a three-cornered contest, but coming third behind the Tory Robert Smith and the Whig
Daniel Coke Daniel Parker Coke (17 July 1745 – 6 December 1825), was an English barrister and Member of Parliament. Early life Coke was the only son of Thomas Coke (1700–1776), a barrister, and his wife, Matilda Goodwin (1706–1777). He belonged ...
. He built up a base there, and stood again in 1807 and 1812. In a successful political ambush, Crompton, by then a member of the reforming Liverpool Concentric Society, with Dr. Taylor of Bolton, had alternative motion passed at an 1817 meeting called at
Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...
by the Tory
High Sheriff of Lancashire The High Sheriff of Lancashire is an ancient office, now largely ceremonial, granted to Lancashire, a county in North West England. High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown, in England and Wales. The High Sheriff of Lanca ...
,
Robert Townley Parker Robert Townley Parker (1793–1879) was a Unionist Member of Parliament for the United Kingdom House of Commons constituency of Preston. He was the son of Thomas Townley Parker, Esq. of the cadet brand of the Towneley family of Towneley ...
. It blamed the Liverpool administration for "a degree of misery never before experienced" in the country. The Concentric Society were allied locally to Egerton Smith and the ''
Liverpool Mercury The ''Liverpool Mercury'' was an English newspaper that originated in Liverpool, England. As well as focusing on local news, the paper also reported on both national and international news allowing it to circulate in Lancashire, Wales, Isle of Ma ...
'', and nationally to
Francis Burdett Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet (25 January 1770 – 23 January 1844) was a British politician and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament who gained notoriety as a proponent (in advance of the Chartism, Chartists) of univ ...
. In 1818, having failed three times to be elected at Nottingham, Crompton recommended Joseph Birch to his supporters. Birch was elected, and held the seat to 1830. From that time Crompton associated with John Wood, who supported him in unsuccessful campaigns at Preston in 1818, and in 1820 at Liverpool. Wood himself was elected at Preston in 1826, Crompton supporting him amid violent scenes involving followers of
William Cobbett William Cobbett (9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835) was an English pamphleteer, journalist, politician, and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey. He was one of an Agrarianism, agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten boroughs", restr ...
.


At Eton House

Crompton moved to Eton House, near Liverpool, in 1797. He had a business interest in a brewery there, set up with the Irish market in mind. He was a founder of the Liverpool Literary Society, with James Currie,
William Rathbone IV William Rathbone IV (10 June 1757 – 11 February 1809) was an English ship-owner and merchant involved in the organisation of American trade with Liverpool, England. He was a political radical, supporting the abolition of the slave trade and univ ...
and
William Roscoe William Roscoe (8 March 175330 June 1831) was an English banker, lawyer, and briefly a Member of Parliament. He is best known as one of England's first abolitionists, and as the author of the poem for children '' The Butterfly's Ball, and th ...
.


Later life

Peter Crompton died on 23 January 1833, aged 68.


Associations

Samuel Crompton (1714–1782), the Derby banker and Peter Crompton's uncle, was involved in the Strutt family circle, an influential Unitarian grouping around the children of
Jedediah Strutt Jedediah Strutt (1726 – 7 May 1797) or Jedidiah Strutt – as he spelled it – was a hosier and cotton spinner from Belper, England. Strutt and his brother-in-law William Woollat developed an attachment to the stocking frame that allowed ...
. The Derby Constitutional Society was connected to Tom Paine though the Strutt family and business. Samuel Fox of Derby (1765–1851) was a hosier and Unitarian, married to Martha Strutt (his first wife), sister of Joseph and William Strutt. He was an associate of William Strutt, who had a practical interest in Paine's iron bridge for local construction work on the River Derwent. Fox called on Paine in London in 1791. In terms of the "overlapping provincial communities of reformers", Crompton's role has been described as central. He became a patron and friend of
John Thelwall John Thelwall (27 July 1764 – 17 February 1834) was a radical British orator, writer, political reformer, journalist, poet, elocutionist and speech therapist.
. Contacts he had in common with Thelwall included William Hawes and his daughter Maria, married to John Gurney, Joseph and Willam Strutt, and Elizabeth Evans, another Strutt sister (see below),
William Shepherd William McMichael "Bill" Shepherd (born July 26, 1949), (Capt, USN, Ret.), is an American former Navy SEAL, aerospace, ocean, and mechanical engineer, and NASA astronaut, who served as commander of Expedition 1, the first crew on the Internatio ...
and
Gilbert Wakefield Gilbert Wakefield (1756–1801) was an English scholar and controversialist. He moved from being a cleric and academic, into tutoring at dissenting academies, and finally became a professional writer and publicist. In a celebrated state trial ...
. In 1798, he introduced Shepherd to
Jeremiah Joyce Jeremiah Joyce (1763–1816) was an English Unitarian minister and writer. He achieved notoriety as one of the group of political activists arrested in May 1794. Early life He was born 24 February 1763, the son of Jeremiah Joyce (1718–1788), ...
, in Hackney, then a village to the east of London. In 1799, when Wakefield was imprisoned, his children went to Shepherd, but one of the daughters stayed with Crompton. In 1796 Crompton approached
Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...
with plans to set up a private school in Derby. It might have amounted to having Coleridge tutor his young sons; and arose in connection with another tutoring proposal from Elizabeth Evans of Darley, widowed sister of Joseph Strutt. Elizabeth, mother of
William Evans (1788–1856) William Evans (17 January 1788 – 8 April 1856) was a Whig (British political party), Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in three periods between 1818 and 1852. Evans was the son of William ...
, had lost her banker husband William Evans that year. Crompton brought into his household
Sarah Lawrence Sarah (born Sarai) is a Patriarchs (Bible)#Matriarchs, biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character simil ...
as governess, who held this position for a number of years. The Unitarian congregation in Derby, which included Joseph and William Strutt, met at the Friar Gate Chapel. The minister there from 1798 to 1803, was William Winstanley (1772–1852), a physician and a good friend of Crompton. He later, as Crompton did, belonged in Liverpool to the
Roscoe circle The Roscoe circle was a loosely-defined group of reformers in Liverpool at the end of the 18th century, around William Roscoe (1753–1831), a banker, politician and abolitionist. The group had cultural interests and drew mostly on English Dissenter ...
.


Works

* ''To the Independent Electors, of the Town and County, of the Town of Nottingham'' (1796) * ''To the Independent Electors, of the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham'' (1807)


Family

In 1787 at age 21 Crompton married Mary Crompton (born 1759), a second cousin, daughter of John Crompton of Crompton Hall. Mary attended some of the
1794 Treason Trials The 1794 Treason Trials, arranged by the administration of William Pitt, were intended to cripple the British radical movement of the 1790s. Over thirty radicals were arrested; three were tried for high treason: Thomas Hardy, John Horne Tooke a ...
, hearing Thomas Erskine defend
John Horne Tooke John Horne Tooke (25 June 1736 – 18 March 1812), known as John Horne until 1782 when he added the surname of his friend William Tooke to his own, was an English clergyman, politician and Philology, philologist. Associated with radical proponen ...
. She became a close friend of Coleridge. Their children were: * Edward Crompton, unmarried, died 1853 at Mapplewell aged 65. * Henry Crompton, unmarried *
Charles John Crompton Sir Charles John Crompton (12 June 1797 – 30 October 1865) was an English justice of the Queen's Bench. Life Crompton was born in Derby; he was the third son of Dr. Peter Crompton, and his second cousin Mary, daughter of John Crompton of Cho ...
(born 1797) was the third son. He married in 1832 Caroline Fletcher, fourth daughter of Thomas Fletcher of Liverpool (1767–1850). * Albert Crompton, barrister-at-law, died unmarried 1841 * Stamford Crompton * Caroline Crompton, married in 1821 Robert Hutton * Emma Crompton


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crompton, Peter 1765 births 1833 deaths 18th-century English medical doctors People from Derby