William Rookes Crompton-StansfieldDL (3 August 1790 – 5 December 1871) ofEsholt Hall,Yorkshire, andFrimley Park,Surrey, was a British landowner andWhig politician who wasMP forHuddersfield, Yorkshire, from 1837 to 1853.^[1][2]

Crompton was born on 3 August 1790. He was the second (but eldest surviving) son of Joshua Crompton (1754–1832) and his wife Anna Maria Rookes (1762–1819), daughter of William Rookes (1719–89) ofRoyds Hall,Bradford,Yorkshire. His father, Joshua, was the son of Samuel Crompton (1714–82), a descendant of theDerby banking family of Crompton, and a cousin of the politicianSir Samuel Crompton. William's elder brother, Stansfield Crompton (1788–1801), died at the age of 13 and was buried atGuiseley Parish Church.^[3]

Crompton's mother, Anna Maria, was the daughter of William Rookes and Annie Stansfield (1729–98). Annie was the daughter of Robert Stansfield (b.1676) ofBradford, Yorkshire, sister of Robert Stansfield (1727–72) who purchasedEsholt Hall in 1755, and a descendant of theStansfeld family ofStansfield andSowerby,Yorkshire (and also a cousin of the politiciansSir James Stansfeld,Hamer Stansfeld, and the soldiersJames Rawdon Stansfeld,Thomas Wolryche Stansfeld andJohn R. E. Stansfeld). In 1832, Crompton assumed the additional surname and arms ofStansfield on inheritingEsholt Hall, nearBradford, Yorkshire, and other estates from his mother.^[4]

Crompton was educated atHarrow School. He matriculated atJesus College, Cambridge in 1808, graduating B.A. in 1813, M.A. in 1816. He was admitted toLincoln's Inn in 1814, and wascalled to the bar in 1819.^[5]

Crompton was electedWhigMP forHuddersfield at the1837 general election and held the seat until 1853. In 1839, he built St Paul's Church as a private family chapel at the cost of £800 (since 1983 it has been used in the combined parish of Guiseley with Esholt).

He opposed the intrusion of theLeeds and Bradford Railway as it crossed hisEsholt estate in 1846 and again in 1860 when it theOtley and Ilkley Joint Railway line was proposed, but the line was eventually built by theMidland Railway Company. Consequently, he later preferred to live atFrimley Park, Surrey.^[6]

Crompton-Stansfield's win at the1852 general election was declared void due to bribery andtreating which "prevailed to a great extent". It was found, by aCommons Committee, that he was "by his agents, guilty of bribery and treating at the last Election". The Committee discovered that "treating throughout the said Borough during the last Election was general, systematic, and extravagant in its character": between sixty and seventy public-houses (at least) had been opened by his agents, with refreshments provided apparently without limit and paid for without inquiry (with expenses incurred on that account alone amounting to upwards of £1,000). With one exception, however, the only persons who were furnished with orders to provide refreshments were registered Electors, so it was not proved to the Committee that the bribery or treating were committed with Crompton-Stansfield's knowledge and consent. Nevertheless, the Committee considered that a system of treating (like that which appears to have prevailed for some time in Huddersfield) must have had the effect of exercising an influence over the minds of voters "as corrupting and debasing as direct bribery".^[7][8][9] He was later aDeputy Lieutenant of theWest Riding of Yorkshire.

Crompton married, on 17 June 1824, Emma Markham, daughter of William Markham of Becca Hall, Yorkshire, and granddaughter ofWilliam Markham (1719–1807),Archbishop of York. She was the niece ofFrederica, Countess of Mansfield (1774–1860) and a cousin ofWilliam Murray, 4th Earl of Mansfield (1806–98).

Crompton-Stansfield died, aged 81, atFrimley Park, Surrey, on 5 December 1871. There were no children from the marriage andEsholt Hall was inherited by his nephew, General William Henry Crompton-Stansfield (1835–88).

• Sir James Stansfeld
• Hamer Stansfeld
• Field House, Sowerby
• Dunninald Castle

• Hansard 1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Mr William Stansfield

• Stansfeld family
• UK MPs 1837–1841
• UK MPs 1841–1847
• UK MPs 1847–1852
• UK MPs 1852–1857
• 1790 births
• 1871 deaths
• Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies
• Deputy lieutenants of the West Riding of Yorkshire

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• Use dmy dates from February 2021