Personal data
Elizabeth Crompton
Born Ca. 1723
Died February 12, 1797
Lady Marchmont

Daughter of Windmill Crompton, a London linen-draper. Married (1748) to Hugh Hume-Campbell, 3rd Earl of Marchmont with whom she had one son, Alexander (1750-1781).1

Sir James Balfour Paul wrote that "[a]t the time of her marriage in 1748 she was only about seventeen, and the Earl was so infatuated with her that he proposed to her the day after seeing her for the first time in a box at the theatre. She was painted by Reynolds, and an old retainer described her as 'just the fairest creature that ever stept this earth'"2

Boswell met Lady Marchmont at Marchmont House on October 18, 1762. He described her as "a sweet-looking agreeable woman[, who] was a citizen's daughter and brought him money."

  • 1Alexander Hume-Campbell was styled Lord Polwarth and (from 1776) Baron Hume of Berwick. He married Amabel Grey but died in 1781 without issue.
  • 2In "Diary of George Ridpath, Minister of Stitchel 1755-1761" (1922), p. 88

Unless otherwise noted, the source for a dated quotation of Boswell's is generally the corresponding volume of the Yale Trade Editions of Boswell's journals.