COKE, OF HOLKHAM. COKE, THOMAS-WILLIAM, Esq. of Holkham, in the county of Norfolk, m. first, Jane, daughter of James Dutton, esq. by whom (who d. in June, 1800) he has three daughters, viz. 1. Jane-Elizabeth, m. first in 1796, to Charles-Nevinson, Edward St. Vincent Digby, b. 21st June, 1809. 2. Anne-Margaret, m. in September, 1794, to Thomas Thomas-William Anson, present EARL OF Lichfield. 3. Elizabeth-Wilhelmina, m. in 1822, to John-Spencer Stanhope, esq. of Cannon Hall, in the county of York, and has issue. Mr. Coke espoused, secondly, in February, 1822, Lady Anne-Amelia Keppel, daughter of William-Charles, present Earl of Albemarle, and has issue, THOMAS-WILLIAM, b. 26th December, 1822. Henry-John, b. 3rd January, 1827. Wenman-Clarence-Walpole, b. 13th July, 1828. Mr. Coke has represented the county of Norfolk for several years in parliament. He succeeded to the estates at the decease of his father in 1776. Lineage. The family of COKE, from which Mr. Coke | the heirs of William Knightley, of Morgravederives through female descent, and which he now represents, is deduced by CAMDEN, from WILLIAM COKE, of Doddington, in the county of Norfolk, mentioned in a deed, anno 1206, who was father, by his wife Felice, of GEOFFREY COKE, of Doddington, from whom descended SIR EDWARD COKE, the celebrated lawyer. This eminent person, the son of Robert Coke, esq. of Mileham, in the county of Norfolk, and Winifred, his wife, daughter, and one of Knightley, in the same shire, was born at the seat of his father, and at ten years of age sent to the grammar-school at Norwich, whence he removed to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied for four years, and was in some years afterwards chosen highsteward of that university. From Cambridge he removed to Clifford's-Inn, and, the year after, he was entered a student in the InnerTemple, whence he was called to the bar, and being chosen reader in Lyon's-Inn, acquired so much celebrity, that he very soon attained considerable practice. About this | under a canopy supported by two marble period he married Bridget, daughter and coheir of John Paston, esq. of Huntingfield Hall, in the county of Suffolk, third son of Sir William Paston, of Paston, with whom he acquired a fortune of thirty thousand pounds. An alliance, too, that brought him honours and preferments as well as wealth. The cities of Coventry and Norwich soon after elected him their recorder. The county of Norfolk returned him to parliament, and the House of Commons placed him in the speaker's chair. In the 35th of Elizabeth (1592), Mr. Coke was appointed Solicitor, and the next year Attorney-general. In 1603 he received the honour of knighthood from King James I. at Greenwich, and in three years afterwards was elevated to the bench as chief of the court of Common Pleas, from which he was advanced, in 1613, to the dignity of CHIEF JUSTICE OF ENGLAND (being the last person who bore that title), and sworn of the privy council. His lordship incurred subsequently, however, the displeasure of the court; and while in disgrace, hearing that a noble lord had solicited from the crown a portion of the lands belonging to the church at Norwich, which he had recovered, and settled thereon, he cautioned the peer to desist, or that he would resume his gown and cap, and come into Westminster Hall once again, to plead the cause of the church. Between his paternal property, the great marriage portion he had with his wife, and his valuable offices and lucrative practice at the bar, Sir Edward Coke realized an estate so ample, that each of his sons possessed a fortune equal to that of an elder brother. Camden, in his Britannia, says, "that he was a person of admirable parts, than whom, as none ever applied himself closer to the study of the law, so never did any one understand it better. Of which he fully convinced England, by his excellent administration for many years together, whilst attorney-general, and by executing the office of Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas with the greatest wisdom and prudence; nor did he give less proof of his abilities in his excellent Reports, and Commentaries upon our Laws, whereby he has highly obliged both his own age and posterity." His lordship d. 3rd September, 1633, at the advanced age of eighty-three. A noble monument was erected to his memory at Tittleshall church, Norfolk, with his effigies habited in judge's robes, lying at full length, pillars, on the top of which are four large figures, and between the pillars two marble tables, with these inscriptions: FIRST TABLE. DEO OPTIMO MAXIMO. Suadæ Sacerdos unicus Divinis Heros Pro Rostris ita Dixit ut Literis insudasse crederes non nisi Ita Vixit ut non nisi Divinis Integritas Ipsa Veræ Semper Sicocculus sæpe ille audiit Sententiam Facessant Hinc Monumenta Facessant Marmora (Nisi quod Pios Fuisse Denotarint Posteros) Ipse sibi suum est monumentum Marmore Perennius Ipse sibi sua SECOND TABLE. a famous Reader, a sound to Queen Elizabeth, and Speaker of the Parliament in the XXXV Years of hir Reigne. Afterwards AttorneyGeneral to the same Queen, as also to her Successor, King James, to both a faithful Servant for their Majties. for their Safties. By King James constituted Chief Justice of both Benches successively, in both a just, in both an exemplary Judge, one of his Majtys most Hon. Privie Councill, as also of Council to Queen Anne, and Chief Justice in Eire of all her Forrests, Parks, and Chases, Recorder of the Citie of Coventrie, and High Steward of the University of Cambridge, whereof he was sometime a Member of Trinitie Colledge. He had two Wives. By Bridget his first Wife (one of the Daughters and co-heirs of John Paston, Esq.) he had Issue seven Sons, and three Daughters; and by the Lady Elizabeth, his second Wife (one of the Daughters of the Right Hon. Thomas, late Earl of Exeter) he had issue THY KINGDOME COME THY WILL BE DONE That thou mayst so die." Sir Edward Coke's daughters, by his last wife, were, Elizabeth, who d. unmarried. Frances, m, to John Villiers, Viscount His surviving children, by his first wife were, of Thomas, Lord Berkeley, and d. 19th July, 1653, issueless. Arthur, m. Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir George Walgrave, knt. of Hitcham, in the county of Norfolk, and left at his decease, 6th December, 1629, four daughters, his co-heirs. John, of Holkham, in the county of Norfolk, m.Meriel, daughter and heiress of Anthony Wheatley, esq. (son of William Wheatley, Prothonotary of the court of Common Pleas), by whom he had seven sons and seven daughters, whereof EDWARD, his heir apparent, died before him, leaving no issue by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of George, Lord Berkeley, whereby the inheritance devolved, eventually, upon his youngest son, JOHN, who dying unmarried, the estate of HOLKHAM, came to the heirs of HENRY COKE, of Thurrington, fifth son of Sir Edward Coke (next mentioned). Henry, of Thurrington, in the county of Suffolk, m. Margaret, daughter and heiress of Richard Lovelace, esq. of Kingsdown, in the county of Kent, and was s. by his eldest son, RICHARD, Who m. Mary, daughter of Sir John Rous, bart. of Henham Hall, in the county of Suffolk, and left an only son, ROBERT, of whom hereafter, as inheritor of the principal part of Sir Edward Coke's fortune, and grandfather of the first peer. Clement, m. Sarah, daughter and coheiress of Alexander Reddish, esq. of Reddish, in the county of Lancaster (by a daughter and co-heiress of Sir Robert Langley, of Agecroft, in the same shire), by whom he acquired the estate of Longford, in Derbyshire, and was s. in May, 1619, by his elder son, EDWARD COKE, who was created a baronet, 30th December, 1641. He m. Catherine, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Lodowick Dyer, knt. of Great Stoughton, in the county of Huntingdon, and had issue, lop, but dying s. p. in 1617, the | Mr. Coke d. 13th April, 1707, and was s. title and estates devolved upon his eldest son, his brother, SIR EDWARD COKE, of Longford, by THOMAS COKE, esq. of Holkham, who was made a Knight of the Bath, 27th May, 1725, and elevated to the peerage 28th May, 1728, as BARON LOVEL, of Minster-Lovel, in the county of Oxford. In 1733, his lordship was constituted joint post-master general, and created 9th May, 1744, Viscount Coke, of Holkham, and EARL OF LEICESTER. He m. 2nd July, 1718, Lady Mary Tufton,* fourth Earl of Thanet, and had an only son, Anne, m. to Ralph Sadler, esq. son and daughter and co-heiress of Thomas, sixth heir of Sir Ralph Sadler, knt. Bridget, m. to William Skinner, esq. son and heir of Sir Vincent Skinner. So much for the lord chief justice's children, we now return to the grandson of his son HENRY, EDWARD, Viscount Coke, who m. in 1747, Lady Mary Campbell, daughter and co-heiress of John, Duke of Argyll and Greenwich, but died, in the lifetime of his father and mother, without issue, anno 1753. ROBERT COKE, esq. of Thurrington, in Suffolk, who, upon the decease of his This earl commenced the erection of that cousin, (the son of his great uncle, John,) stately pile of building called Holkham Hall, John Coke, esq. of Holkham, unmarried, in Norfolk, but did not live to see it cominherited that estate, and thus became pos-pleted. It was, however, finished by his sessed of the chief part of the property of his great grandfather, Sir Edward Coke. He m. Lady Anne Osborne, daughter of Thomas, first Duke of Leeds, lord treasurer of England, and was s. at his decease, 16th January, 1679, by his only son, EDWARD COKE, esq., of Holkham, who m. Carey, daughter of Sir John Newton, bart. of Barrow's Court, in Gloucestershire, and had issue, THOMAS, his successor. Edward, of Longford, in the county of Carey, m. to Sir Marmaduke Wyvil, WENMAN ROBERTS, of whom pre- widow, who survived him sixteen years. His lordship d. 20th April, 1759, when the EARLDOM OF LEICESTER, and inferior honors, became EXTINCT, while the entire of his extensive estates devolved upon (the son of his sister ANNE) his nephew, WENMAN ROBERTS, esq., who assumed thereupon the surname and arms of COKE only. He m. Miss Elizabeth Chamberlayne, and had (with two daughters) THOMAS-WILLIAM, his heir. Mr. Coke d. in 1776, and was s. by his elder son, Arms---Party, per pale, gu. and az. three eagles displayed ar. Crest ---On a chapeau az. turned up ermine, an ostrich ar. holding in its mouth a horse shoe or. Motto---Prudens qui patiens. * The abeyance of the BARONY DE CLIFFORD was terminated by the Crown in this lady's favor in 1734, and she became Baroness de Clifford, but outliving her only child Edward, Viscount Coke, the dignity fell again into abeyance at her ladyship's decease in 1775. ANNESLEY, OF BLETCHINGDON. ANNESLEY, ARTHUR, ESQ., of Bletchingdon, in the county of Oxford, b. in 1760, s. his father, Arthur Annesley, esq. in 1773, m. Catherine, daughter and heir of Admiral Sir Charles Hardy, (Governor of Greenwich Hospital) and has had, (with other children, who all died unmarried,) 1. ARTHUR, b. in 1785, m. Eleanor, daughter of Henry Brien, esq. by whom he has issue, 2. Charles, b. in 1789, in holy orders, Fellow of All Souls 3. Catherine-Elizabeth, b. in 1791, m. to the Honorable 6. Lucy-Susan. Lineage. Hon SIR REGINALD de Annesley, knt. who espoused the daughter and heiress of skerle, and had an only son, SIR JOHN DE ANNESLEY, knt. who had a grant, in the 4th EDWARD I. of free warren in all his demesnes in Annesley. He was sheriff of the counties of Derby and Nottingham, 14th EDWARD I. and also of the county of Gloucester 3rd 4th and 5th years of the following reign. Sir John m. Annora, dau. of Sir Robert Pierrepont, knt. and had three sons, viz. JOHN, his successor. Robert, of Roddington, founder, in 36th SIR JOHN DE ANNESLEY, knt. who d. 25th SIR JOHN DE ANNESLEY, knt. who served in parliament as one of the knights of the county of Nottingham, and had livery of the manor of Hedynton and hundred of Belyndon, in Oxfordshire. He m. Isabell, daughter and co-heir of Margaret, third sister and co-heir of Sir John Chandos, Knight of the Garter, Baron of St. Saviour-le-Viscount in Normandy, Great Seneschal of Poicton, and High Constable of Aquitaine, by which lady he had issue, THOMAS ANNESLEY, esq. OF ANNESLEY, M.P. for the county of Nottingham, 7th RICHARD II. This gentleman m. Agnes, daughter of Robert Clifton, of Clifton, by whom he had issue, HUGH, his successor. |