Biography
Compton was born in Huntingdon. His parents were John Mackenzie and his wife, formerly Mrs Elizabeth Symonds, and he was the sixth of eleven children. Through both parents, Compton was related to members of the medical profession. After being educated at Huntingdon and at a boarding school at Little Baddow in Essex, Compton was apprenticed to his mother's brother, who was a cloth merchant in Aldermanbury, near London. Compton was unhappy with a life in trade and, desiring instead a life on the stage, ran away twice but was returned to his family each time. However, after running away for a third time in 1826, his family finally accepted his wish to become an actor. He took his grandmother's maiden name, Compton, as his stage name.
Read more about this topic: Henry Compton (actor)
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