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Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester,KB (17 June 1697 – 20 April 1759) was a British landowner and politician. He is particularly noted for commissioning the design and construction ofHolkham Hall in northNorfolk. Between 1722 and 1728, he was one of the twoMembers of Parliament forNorfolk. He was honoured by being created firstEarl of Leicester, in a recreation of an ancient earldom.
He was the son of Edward Coke (Coke is pronounced "Cook") andCary Newton. His great-great-great-grandfather was the noted judge and politicianSir Edward Coke. He was also the great-grandson of his namesake,Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds. He marriedLady Margaret Tufton, 19th Baroness de Clifford, 3rd daughter ofThomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet by his wife Lady Catherine Cavendish. The title of "19th Baroness de Clifford" was eventually granted in favour to her after falling into abeyance between her co-heir sisters. As a young man, Coke embarked on a six-year 'Grand Tour', returning to England in the spring of 1718. During his time inRome in 1715, he made the acquaintance ofRichard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, the aristocratic architect at the forefront of thePalladian revival movement in England, and ofWilliam Kent. Both were later to be engaged by Coke to work on his mansion atHolkham Hall constructed in Palladian style which housed the considerable collection of works of art that Coke had accumulated on his travels. During these travels in 1717, he purchased theCodex Leicester, containing some of the works ofLeonardo da Vinci, the Italian artist and scientist.
Coke was later raised to the peerage asBaron Lovel and became known asLord Lovel on 28 May 1728. However, Coke was badly affected by financial losses when his investments in theSouth Sea Company proved worthless. This delayed the building of Coke's planned newcountry estate for over ten years. On top of that, he seemed to have lived a reckless life of drinking, gambling, and hunting,[2] as well as being a leading supporter of cock fighting.[3] It was not until around 1732 that Burlington and Kent made their first drawings for the newcountry house. Norfolk architectMatthew Brettingham was also influential in the design of the mansion (though he attributed the design of the Marble Hall to Coke himself). Work on the foundations began in 1734, but it was to be 30 years before work was completed. As he surveyed the result of his long years of labour and achievement, Lord Leicester lamented: "It is a melancholy thing to stand alone in one's own country. I look around not a house to be seen but my own. I am Giant of Giant Castle and have ate up all my neighbours my nearest neighbour is the King of Denmark."[4]
Coke, who had been madeEarl of Leicester on 9 May 1744, died on 20 April 1759, five years before the completion of Holkham Hall, having never fully recovered his financial losses. Thereafter, his wife Lady Margaret oversaw the completion and furnishing of the house. He had been predeceased by his only son,Edward Coke, Viscount Coke (1719–1753), whose marriage to the diaristLady Mary Campbell proved disastrous – he virtually imprisoned her at Holkham Hall – and childless.[5] Therefore, Holkham Hall was inherited by Thomas Coke's nephewWenman Roberts, the son of Major Philip Roberts and Thomas's sister Anne Coke.
Wenman took the name of Coke after inheriting the Coke estates and was succeeded on his death in 1776 by his son,another Thomas Coke, later1st Earl of Leicester of Holkham, the MP and agricultural reformer.
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forNorfolk 1722–1728 With:Thomas de Grey 1722–1727 Sir John Hobart 1727–1728 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Postmaster General of the United Kingdom 1733–1759 With:Edward Carteret 1733–1739 Sir John Eyles 1739–1745 Everard Fawkener 1745–1759 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England 1731–1732 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| New creation | Earl of Leicester 1744–1759 | Extinct |
| Baron Lovel 1728–1759 | ||
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