Winifred M. Crompton Explained

Winifred M. Crompton
Employer:	Manchester Museum
Signature:	Winifred_M_Crompton_Signature.jpg

Winifred M. Crompton (1870 – 8 October 1932)^[1] was a British Egyptologist and curator at the Manchester Museum.

Career

Crompton began her career at the Manchester Museum as its printer. In 1912, she became the first assistant-in-charge of Egyptology,^[2] curating a collection founded on part of Flinders Petrie's, donated to Manchester by one of his financial backers, Jesse Haworth. During her tenure she corresponded with other Egyptologists to acquire more objects and expand the collection. She was appointed the Assistant Keeper of Egyptology in 1922 and remained in that position until her death in 1932.^{[3] [4]}

Crompton was an informal student of Margaret Murray, whom she first met in 1906. Murray visited the Manchester Museum to assist Crompton in cataloguing Petrie's collection and the two began a correspondence that would last the rest of Crompton's life. Murray encouraged Crompton to pursue her own research in Egyptology, leading to the publication of several scholarly papers.

Crompton died on 8 October 1932.^[5]

Family

Crompton's sister, Alice Crompton,^[6] was the first woman to graduate with a degree in classics from the University of Manchester.^[7] In 1891, Alice became the head of the Manchester Settlements Women's House.^[8]

Selected publications

• Crompton. Winifred M.. 1916. Two Clay Balls in the Manchester Museum. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. en. 3. 1. 128. 10.1177/030751331600300129. 194049082. 0307-5133.
• Crompton. Winifred M.. 1918. A Carved Slate Palette in the Manchester Museum. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. en. 5. 1. 57–60. 10.1177/030751331800500105. 192279832. 0307-5133.

Notes and References

1. Book: Stevenson, Alice. Scattered Finds: Archaeology, Egyptology and Museums. UCL Press. 2019. 978-1-78735-141-7. London. 56, 162. en. Alice Stevenson.
2. Book: Sheppard, Kathleen. https://books.google.com/books?id=FNkABAAAQBAJ&pg=PT190. Histories of Egyptology: Interdisciplinary Measures. Routledge. 2015. 978-1-135-01456-8. Carruthers. William. London. 123–125. en. Margaret Alice Murray and Archaeological Training in the Classroom: Preparing "Petrie's Pups".
3. Book: Resources for Women's History in Greater Manchester. National Museum of Labour History. 1993. 978-0-9507120-1-7. Manchester. 80. en. Manchester Women's History Group.
4. 1933. Obituary – Miss Winifred Crompton. Ancient Egypt and the East. 1933. 132.
5. Web site: Winifred Crompton. Ancient Worlds. en. 2020-03-09.
6. Book: Hill, Kate . Women and museums 1850-1914: Modernity and the gendering of knowledge . Sharpe, Pamela . July 2016. 978-1-5261-0031-3. Manchester . Manchester University Press . 972478385.
7. THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN AT MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY 1883 to 1933. Issue 277 of Publications of the University of Manchester. Mabel Phythian Tylecote. Manchester University Press, 1941
8. Book: Dyhouse, Carol . No distinction of sex?: women in British universities, 1870-1939. ROutledge, Taylor & Francis Group. 1-134-22290-4. London. 959428015.