Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, KB (17 June 1697 – 20 April 1759) was an English land-owner and patron of the arts. He is particularly noted for commissioning the design and construction of Holkham Hall in north

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. Between 1722 and 1728, he was one of the two Members of Parliament for

. He was honoured by being created first

Earl of Leicester Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837. History Earl ...

, in a recreation of an ancient earldom.

Life

He was the son of Edward Coke (Coke is pronounced "Cook") and Cary Newton. His great-great-great-grandfather was the noted judge and politician

Sir Edward Coke Sir Edward Coke ( , formerly ; 1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634) was an English barrister, judge, and politician. He is often considered the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into an upper-class family, Coke was ...

. He married Lady Margaret Tufton, 19th Baroness de Clifford, 3rd daughter of Thomas 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 in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1715, he made the acquaintance of

Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork (25 April 1694 – 4 December 1753) was a British architect and noble often called the "Apollo of the Arts" and the "Architect Earl". The son of the 2nd Earl of Burlington and 3rd Ear ...

, the aristocratic architect at the forefront of the

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

revival movement in England, and of

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, b ...

. Both were later to be engaged by Coke to work on his mansion at Holkham 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 the Codex Leicester, containing some of the works of

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

, the Italian artist and scientist. Coke was later raised to the peerage as Baron Lovel and became known as Lord Lovel on 28 May 1728. However, Coke was badly affected by financial losses when his investments in the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially: The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

proved worthless. This delayed the building of Coke's planned new country estate for over ten years. On top of that, he seemed to have lived a reckless life of drinking, gambling, and hunting, as well as being a leading supporter of cock fighting. It was not until around 1732 that Burlington and Kent made their first drawings for the new

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

. Norfolk architect

Matthew Brettingham Matthew Brettingham (1699 – 19 August 1769), sometimes called Matthew Brettingham the Elder, was an English architect who supervised the construction of Holkham Hall, and became one of the best-known architects of his generation, despi ...

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." Coke, who had been made Earl 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 diarist Lady Mary Campbell proved disastrous – he virtually imprisoned her at Holkham Hall – and childless. Therefore, Holkham Hall was inherited by Thomas Coke's nephew Wenman 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, later 1st Earl of Leicester of Holkham, the MP and agricultural reformer.

Life

See also

References

Further reading