It is not necessary to trace the various hands through which Castle Ashby passed subsequently to this period, until we arrive at the fifteenth century, when the estates became the property of the Compton family, ancestors of the present noble possessor, who only succeeded in establishing a claim by a re-purchase in 1465, after fifty years’ possession, in consequence of “rival nuncupative wills” made by previous owners. Sir William Compton, the purchaser, was the head of a family long settled at Compton Winyate, in Warwickshire, from which place the family name was derived; at the death of his father, Sir William had not attained his majority, and being in ward to Henry VII., was chosen by the king to attend his son Prince Henry, who, on subsequently ascending the throne, gave him an appointment as groom of the bed-chamber. Sir William, then Mr. Compton, soon became a favourite with the sovereign, one of whose freaks was to attend _incog._ a tournament got up by some of the courtiers, on which occasion he was attended by his favourite, Mr. Compton, who received a dangerous wound by an accidental collision with Sir Edward Nevill. In November 1510, the king proclaimed a tournament, “at which he with his two aids, Charles Brandon, afterwards Duke of Suffolk, and William Compton, gave an universal challenge with the spear at tilt one day, and at tourney with the sword the other.” Magnificently accoutred, the royal party entered the lists, gained great distinction, and received the prize. Afterwards, in 1511, the king granted to William Compton Esq., “his trusty serv’nte and true liegman, for the good and (acceptable) s’vyce whiche he hathe doone to his Hignesse, and durynge his lyfe entendithe to doo,” the manor of Tottenham, in Middlesex, and he was honoured, in the following year, with an armorial augmentation out of the royal arms. “Mayster Compton,” as he is called in an old MS., became Sir William in 1513, being knighted by the king after the battle of the Spurs (5 Hen. VIII.). He died in 1528, after retaining through life the confidence and regard of his wayward master, from whom he received many valuable marks of attachment. His son Peter, who was only six years of age, became the ward of Cardinal Wolsey, and afterwards of the Earl of Shrewsbury, to whose daughter he was married. He died in his minority, leaving one son, Henry Compton, who was knighted by the Earl of Leicester in 1566, and summoned to parliament by writ, as Baron Compton, in 1572 (14 Eliz.). About this time another attempt was made to wrest the estate of Ashby from the Compton family, which, however, ended in a compromise between the contending parties, each making some concessions, “for the finall endinge of all sutes and controversies.” Lord Compton was one of the Commissioners deputed to sit in judgment on Mary queen of Scots.