Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 1 Vol 5.djvu/54

BICESTER. LEICESTER OF HOLKHAM. t. 1837. 1. Thomas Wiltjam Coke, ivf Holkliam, eo. Norfolk, s. and h. of Wemnari I I«>iiei£T.s. afterwards Coke, of I.onsford, co. Derby and of Holkham afsd. l>y Elizabeth, da, of George Dentos, formerly Ciiamiikklaynk, of Hillesden, Hocks, which Wen man was s. and b. of Philip ROBERTS, Major in the 2d Horse Guards, by Anne, sister of Thomas (Coke), Raul oft Leicester (<•;•. 1711 but rf. s.p.s. I7S9) was b. 0 and lap. 10 May 1754 at St. .lames, Westm , cite, his Father, 11 April 1770 ; was M.P. for Norfolk 1770-31, 1790-1800, and 1807-18:12, bavin-, 1S06-07, sat for Derbyshire II" "gloried "m the reputation of being the fust. Commoner of Knslanrf.'V 1 ; after (i years' retirement from pilblio life, he, at the mature age of S3, was er. 12 Aug. 1837, VISCOUNT CHICK ami KARL OF LEIGESTKK Of HOLKHA.M,l b ) eo. Norfolk. He m. lirstly 5 Oct. 1 77-". at Sherburne. Jane, sister of .lames, 1st Baron Shiodohxe, yet, ihi, of .lames Lennox Pi'TTON, formerly Napeh, of Loughcrew, co. Menth, by his second wife .lane, da. of Christopher Bo«D, She rf. s.p.m. 2 June 1S00, and was imr, at Tit tleshall, Norfolk. He in. secondly 20 Fel). 1>22,( C 1 in St. James' square, Westminster, -mu- Amelia, 3d da. of William Charles (ICeitkl 1 , 3d BaRL of Ai.hkm irlb, by bis first wife IClizabcth, da. of Edward (SOUTHWELL), LORD DE CLIFFORD. He rf. at Longford Hall, eo, Derby, 30 Juue 1S12, and was bur. at Tittleshall, aged 88.(*) Will pr. 20 Oct. 1842. His widow, who was 4. 10 June 1803 m. 25 June 1813, at St. Geo. Han. so,., the lit, Hon. Edward Ellice (who rf. 20 Sep. 1803) and rf. 22 July 1841, aged 41, at Longford Hall. II. 1812. 2. Thomas William (Coke), Earl of Leicester of H lUCRAM, &e, s. and h., by second wife, b. 20 Dec. 1822, at Holkham ; erl. at Eton and Winchester ; styled Viscount Coke from 1837 till he sue. to the peerage, 30 June 1842 ; Lord Lieut, of Norfolk, 1840 ; Privy Seal to the families of C'ompton, Shirley. Ferrers (of Tamworth and Groby), De Quincy and Beaumont and (2) thro' the families of Compton, Shirley, Ferrers (of Chartley, Lords Ferrers), De Quincy, and Beaumont, of which last line (Lords Ferrers, 1291* — 1840, and again since 1077) he was a representative. See also vol. iii, p. 334, note ,l a," sub "Ferrers," where the double descent from William (Ferrers), Earl of Derby, who m. Lady Margaret de Quincy is set forth. ( n ) Annua/ Rcjistcr for 1S42, where it is added that he was " throughout his political career, a zealous whig," opposing "the war against revolutionary France ami tin 1 general policy of Pitt. He was anyhow " the Jirsl commoner" who obtained a peerage from the Queen, the Earldom of limes, conferred on the Duke of Hoxburghe [SJ, inning been granted one day previously. (t>) The title conferred in 1741 on bis Father's maternal uncle was Viscount Coke of Holkham, co. Norfolk, and Bart of Leicester." On the strength of this Earldom having been enjoyed for some 15 years by one of his collateral relatives (asabove), Mr. Coke, tW the Earldom of Leicester was then •trtwdly in existence, being vested (as it bad been for above half a century) in a totally distinct family, actually prevailed on the Melbourne Ministry to grant him a sort of sham duplicate thereof, viz-, Leicester of Ilolk- ham, so as to appear to be (what, for 15 years, 1744-59, his said relative really was) an Ear! of Leicester. — Oh I shade of Simon de Moiitfort, what a burlesque on your great Earldom of the county of Leicester! Perhaps, however, your ghost, as also those of Warwick (the King maker) and other holders of far famed dignities will shortly behold, among the modern-antiques of the 1 9th century, BU"h creations as Westmorland of Worm- wood-Scrubs, Pembroke rf Putney, Norfolk of Norwood, Hunlinydon of Uv/ltgate, and Dorset of DidlinyUm (which last, like Holkham, is a small village in Norfolk) and per- haps even (unless indeed royal titles are to be exempt) an Earldom of dialer of Cumberwell and a Dukedom of Cornwall of Clapham Rise. It is evident that the precedent of 1 Victoria (1837) allows of the creation of euch dignities, notwith- standing that the Earldom of the county, whose designation they adopt as the hist word of the peerage title, is still in existence. ( l ) He had been more than 21 years a widower, and was then nearly 70 ; the young lady who was CO years his junior, being under 19, as she "was not lorn for 3 years after his first wife's and was seven years younger than his grandaughter, the Countess of liosebery." The marriage was "it is said in consequence of dissatisfac- tion with his nephew and heir presumptive." [Ann. Jlcgistcr, 1842.] ( d ) In his youth, he was, at Kome, known cib " the handsome Euglishmau,"