park has long been converted into tillage. 1. Anne, Sir John Coke's eldest daughter, was m. to Henry Sacheverell, of Morley, 20th November, 1638. He suffered much during the civil war, his house being plundered by the Cromwellians to the amount of 30007. in money, in addition to the seizure of his horses and a large proportion of his goods. He was a branch of the same family, of which Richard Coke had married an heiress about the year 1560. Robert Sacheverell, the last of the Morley branch, died in 1714; his daughters and coheirs married Clifton and Pole, of Radburn, a descendant of Sir John de la Pole. She was m. secondly, to Henry Danvers, of Swithland. 2. Elizabeth, m. first, to Anthony Faunt; secondly, to Thomas Stocke, of London. III. Thomas, third son of Richard, died at Padua 1623, s. p. IV. Philip, fellow of Trinity college, Cambridge, and died there. v. George, D.D. rector of Bygrave, in the county of Hertford, was, in the year 1633, promoted to the see of Bristol, and in 1636 translated to Hereford. He was one of the twelve bishops who signed the petition and protestation to CHARLES I. and the house of lords against any laws which had been passed during their forced and violent absence from the house; and upon the accusation by the commons of high treason, he was, with the other subscribers, committed to the Tower of London, where they remained until the bill for putting them out of the house was passed, which was not till many months after. Walker, in his "Sufferings of the Clergy," describes George Coke as being "born at Trusley, in Derbyshire, of a family that continued several hundreds of years on that estate," and "that he had his education at Pembroke Hall, in Cambridge, where he was taxer in the year 1605." He further states, that when "Colonel Birch took the city of Hereford, in 1645, he rifled this good bishop's palace, and afterwards took up his habitation there till the restoration, and what is more had great part of the revenues of the bishoprick to his own use; and to this day the manor of Whitbourn, by the sorry compli ance of those who might have prevented it, continues in his family. He had a temporal estate also in the parish of Eardisley, called Quistmoor; this the committee of Hereford laid their paws upon August 12, 1646, and let it out to a tenant upon condition to pay to the wife and children of the said Dr. Coke such exhibition as by ordinance is allowed unto them, provided that neither she nor the said Dr. himself 'do hereafter act, abet, contrive or procure any act or thing against or contrary to the votes, &c. &c. of the Parliament, or aid or assist the malignant party.' By this and such other methods, he was reduced so low, that though he was otherwise a very thrifty man, yet he had wanted had not his relations supported him. This hard usage, as I am informed, hastened his death, which happened in the year 1646, though Lloyd saith that he bore his sufferings with admirable calmness and serenity, and adds that he was a pious and learned man." He m. Jane, daughter of William, son of Sir Clement Heigham, of Suffolk, and dying in 1646 was buried in Eardisley church, where a brass plate, with brief inscription, records the event, while in Hereford cathedral a handsome cenotaph was raised to his memory, containing an inscription, which, as has been aptly observed, is indeed composed in the most unchastised spirit of the restoration; yet after due allowance has been made for the times in which it was written, there can be but little doubt that he was a man of distinguished learning and ability, of great firmness and discretion, and of singular piety. A perusal of the inscription is to the Christian classic a matter of considerable interest, for by him alone can the forcible and happy expression of "sui Iesu," and the concluding sentence," verbo unico sed latissimo semper pronuntiasse Resurgam," be fully appreciated. The Rev. George Coke, of Lower Moor, (of whom presently), has in his possession a singular ring, which has been handed down from generaThe inscription in Eardisley church is as follows: : Hic jacet Reverendus in Christo Pater, Dominus, Georgius Couceus Dominus Episcopus Herefordensis Obit Decimo sepultus Decimo quinto Die Decembris Anno sui Iesu 1646, Etatis suæ 76°. Iam licet in occiduo cinere Resurgam. tion to generation as the bishop's lady's wedding-ring. It is of massive gold, with a hand, a heart, a mitre, and a death's head, embossed upon it, with the following couplet on the inner circle, These three I give to thee Till the fourth set me free. He has also a blood-stone necklace, once the property of the above lady, which bears a great name in the parish where its owner resides, as possessing the charm of stopping violent bleeding, for which purpose its aid is often requested, and the application is still supposed never to fail. Bishop Coke had issue, 1. Richard, B.D. of Suckley, in the county of Worcester, vicar of Eastnor, in the county of Hereford, prebendary of Bullinghope, and chancellor of the diocese. He m. Mary, daughter of John Kayse, of the county of Gloucester, and was s. by his only son, Heigham, who m. Mary, dau. of Sir Nicholas Lechmere, one of the barons of the exchequer, by whom he had issue one daughter. He m. secondly, Elizabeth, dau. of Sir Willoughby D'Ewes, of Stow Langtoft Hall, in the county of Suffolk, a descendant of Sir Symonds D'Ewes, the great antiquarian and topographical collector, whose very curious life, written by himself, is to be seen in the British Museum. His ancestor, Adrian D'Ewes, descended from the ancient stem of Des Ewes, dynasts or lords of the Dition of Kessel, in the dutchy of Gelderland, had settled in England not many years after the beginning of HENRY VIII., when that duchy had been so much wasted and depopulated by the intestine wars which raged there between Charles the Duke, Philip the Archduke, and Charles his son. Weever, in his ancient funeral monuments (1631), gives descriptions and drawings of some curious monuments and testimonials to Geeradt D'Ewes and others of the same family, in churches within the diocese of London. Heigham Coke d. 3rd November, 1719, and was s. by his eldest son, D'EWES, who m. Frances, daughter and co-heiress of William Coke, of Trusley of him presently. 2. John, second son of the Bishop of Hereford, was rector of Whitborn and Ross, in the county of Hereford, and prebendary of Moreton Magna. He was deprived of the former of these livings by the committee of Hereford, 24th Sept. 1646, as related by Walker in his Sufferings of the Clergy (p. 36, fol. edit.), but so warmly were his flock attached to their pastor, that forcible means were ultimately resorted to to dispossess him. The crimes alleged against him were scandal and being an incendiary against the Parliament. He lived however to be restored to his living at Whitborn, and died there at a good old age; his successor at Ross being the celebrated Mr. Tombs. His widow Eleanor at her death bequeathed the property to his nephew, Heigham, son of Richard Coke, of Suckley. 3. William, of Quistmoor, in the county of Hereford, prebendary of Colwall, vicar of Bosbury and portionist of Bromyard, who left, by Elizabeth his wife, five daughters and one son, FRANCIS, of Quistmoor and Lower Moor, ancestor of the Cokes of Lower Moor.* * Lower Moor Branch. FRANCIS COKE, of Quistmoor and Lower Moor, (the son of William, the Vicar of Bosbury), m. Lucy, daughter of Thomas Coucher, of Parton, in the county of Hereford, and had issue by her one son and three daughters. She d. in 1692; and he m. secondly, in 1725, Barbara, relict of - Harper, by whom he had no issue. Dying in June, 1750, at the age of ninety, he was s. by his only son, GEORGE COKE, who m. Élizabeth, daughter of Richard Bytheway, of the ancient family residing at Leintwardine, in the county of Hereford, through which alliance a considerable property in the paMontgomeryshire, eventually fell (by the failure rishes of Llancrril, Hirnant, and Llanrhayder, in of male issue in the other lines) into the Lower Moor branch of the Coke family. He left at his decease (his widow dying 1st September, 1781, at the advanced age of ninety-six) a son and suc cessor, RICHARD COKE, Vicar of Eardisley for the period of forty years, a man of good scholarship and of original wit, excelling in the composition of SIR FRANCIS COKE, of Trusley, m. first, Frances, daughter of Denzell Holles, son brief allegories and fables in verse. His memory too was an extraordinary one-such as to enable him, though for many years afflicted with blindness, to repeat long passages from the classics, amongst which Juvenal was his favourite author. He was an active magistrate for the county of Hereford. He m. Jane, daughter of Jeremiah Griffiths, rector of Disserth, and dying 27th December, 1793, aged seventy-five, left two sons and three daughters, 1. Richard, who d. s. p. 11. Francis, B.A. of Baliol college, Oxford, and admitted ad eundem at Cambridge, where he took his master's degree. He was rector of Gladestry, in the county of Radnor, vicar of Sellack and Caple, in the county of Hereford, magistrate for the county, and prebendary of Piona Parva, in the cathedral church of Hereford. In 1791 he m. Anne, daughter of Robert Whitcombe, esq. of Kington, (of the ancient family of Whitcombe, of Eastham, in the county of Worcester), by Winifred, eldest daughter of Richard Hooper, esq. of the Whittem, Herefordshire, descended from Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester, who suffered at the stake in Queen MARY's reign. She died in 1826, and the Rev. Francis Coke, in 1831, having had issue fifteen children, seven only of whom survived their parents, viz. 1. George, b. 8th January, 1797, of St. John's College, Cambridge, ordained in 1821, and afterwards appointed to the rectory of Aylton, in the county of Hereford. He suc ceeded to the family estate at Lower Moor on his father's death, and m. in 1825, Anne-Elizabeth, only daughter of the Rev. James Hodgson, rector of Barwick, in Yorkshire, (by his second wife, Winifred, eldest daughter of Robert Whitcombe, esq. of Kington), and by her, who d. 28th March, 1831, had one son and two daughters, George-Francis, b. 15th January, 1830. Anne-Elizabeth. Lucy-Elizabeth Hodgson. The Rev. George Coke holds a commission of the peace for the county of Hereford. 2. Robert Coke, b. 2nd September, 1801; m. in 1832, Isabella, only daughter of Walter Hill, esq. formerly of Rocklands, in the county of Hereford, immediately descended, on her mother's side, from Colonel Hutchinson, who held so distinguished a command under Parliament in the civil wars. and heir of Sir William Holles, and sister of Sir William Holles and sister to John Lord Haughton's first wife. He m. secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of George Curzon, of Croxhall, in the county of Derby, and relict of Thomas Leigh, of Eggington, whose ancestor, Robert, son of Reginald 3. William, B. A. of Trinity college, Cambridge, b. 2nd November, 1803, is perpetual curate of the parishes of Marstow and Pencoyd, in the county of Hereford. 4. John, b. 17th November, 1806, lieutenant and adjutant of the 10th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry. 1. Anne, m. 15th October, 1823,, to William Sarsfield-Rositer Cockburn, esq. (only son of Lieut.-Gen. Sir William Cockburn, bart. of Cockburn and Ryslaw, Berwickshire) who, on his father's death in March, 1835, succeeded to the title and estates. The common ancestor of this line, and of Sir James Cockburn, of Langton, was Sir William Cockburn, knt. and Baron of Langtoun, who fell at the battle of Flodden Field, and was descended from Sir William Cockburn, of Langtoun, keeper of the great seal of Scotland in 1389. Sir William Cockburn has issue, Devereux Plantagenet, b. 9th June, 1828, and other children. 2. Jane. 3. Lucy. 1. Elizabeth. 11. Jane, m. to the Rev. James Hodgson, M.A. of Christchurch college, Oxford, and of Humber, in the county of Hereford, and died 15th February, 1790, having had issue, James-Coke Hodgson, who died in his fifteenth year, having been blind several years, but still having attained much knowledge for his early age. John-Richard-Henry Hodgson, d. young. Francis Hodgson, b. 16th Nov. 1781, formerly of King's college, Cambridge, archdeacon of Derby, and vicar of Bakewell, in the same county, a gentleman well known in the literary world as the translator of Juvenal and author of the Friends, and other poems. He enjoyed the warm friendship of the late Lord Byron. He m. 15th August, 1815, Susanna-Matilda, daughter of Archdale-Wilson Tayler, esq. of Barham Wood, in the county of Hertford, which lady d. 6th October, 1833, s. p. Jane Hodgson, d. young. 1. Lucy, third dau. of Rev. Richard Coke. * From this marriage the Cokes derive their descent of founder's kin to Archbishop Chichele at All Souls' college, Oxford, Denzell Holles having married Eleanor, daughter of Edmond Sheffield, Lord Sheffield, son of John Vere, fifth Earl of Oxford. Leigh, of Annesley, in Nottinghamshire, descended from the Leghs of Adlington, in Cheshire, m. a co-heiress of Lathbury, and settled at Eggington in the 15th century. Croxhall (Crocheshalle in the Domesday survey) was one of the knight's fees held by Richard de Curcun in the reign of HENRY I. and continued to be the property and seat of this ancient family until the reign of CHARLES I., when Mary, niece to Elizabeth, wife of Sir Francis Coke, and daughter and heir of Sir Richard Curzon, brought it to Sir Edward Sackville, afterwards Earl of Dorset. Sir Francis Coke was one of the three commissioners (the other two being Sir Gilbert Kniveton and Sir Richard Harpur) appointed in the 1st of King CHARLES I. (1625) for the collection of the subsidies in the hundred of Morleston and Litchurch. He d. 1339, at the age of seventy-eight, leaving three sons and four daughters, viz. Frances, m. to William Mundy, of II. Susanna, m. to Roger Bates, D.D. The eldest son, WILLIAM COKE, esq. of Trusley, m. first, Maud, daughter and co-heiress of Henry Beresford, of Alsop in the Dales, in the county of Derby, and lineal descendant of John de Beresford, lord of Beresford, in the county of Stafford, in the reign of William Rufus, and whose ancestor's name appears in the train of WILLIAM the Conqueror. By this lady he had four sons and four daughters, 1. RICHARD, his heir. 1. Francis, died vitâ patris. 11. Henry, died v. p. IV. Timothy, d. unm. 11. Mary, m. to John Fitzherbert, of Somersall, in the county of Derby. The Somersall Fitzherberts were the elder branch of the family which has long resided at Tissington, but became extinct by the death of Richard Fitzherbert, of Somersall, in 1803. Somersall Hall, the old seat of the family, time out of mind, was purchased by Alleyn Fitzherbert, Lord St. Helens, descended from the Tissington branch, who was created a baron in 1801. III. Alice, m. to William Harpur, of Bilson, in the county of Derby, son to Sir Henry Harpur, bart. of Calke. In the year 1808 the Harpurs, of Calke Abbey, took the name of Crewe, by the king's sign manual, in consequence of their descent from Lord Crewe. IV. Isabel, died young. His second wife, who died without issue, was Dorothy, daughter of Francis Saunders, of Shankton, in Northamptonshire. He d. in 1641, and is interred with one of his two wives in the chancel of Kirkby* church. He was s. by his eldest son, RICHARD COKE, esq. of Trusley, who m. Catherine, daughter of Robert Charlton, of Whitton, in Shropshire, and lord of Powys Land, sister to Sir Job Charlton, speaker of the house of commons. Richard Coke was one of the eight whose names are found on the list of persons in Derbyshire who were the Royal Oak in 1660. In the same list "fit and qualified" to be made knights of tive estates of those people who were deemed was also returned the value of the respec They are buried with two of their children, Isabella and Henry, on the south side of the chancel, just below the steps of the altar. The inscription is nearly effaced on the slabs which are placed over their graves, but there is a singular memorandum made at the beginning of the first register kept in the parish, (the first entry in which is "Maria, filia Gulielmi Coke, A.D. 1628)," it is a drawing of the monumental stones, with the inscriptions which were placed over William Coke and Maud his wife. They run as follows: Here lieth the body of William Coke, esq. son and heir of Francis Coke, of Trusley, in the county of Derby, knight, who married Maud, eldest daughter of Hen. Beresford, of Alsop, &c. by whom he had issue four sons and four daughters. He being of the age of forty-seven years, March 27, Anno Dom. 1641. Lived godly and died comfortably." The other: "Here lieth interred the body of Maud Coke, wife of William Coke, of Kerkby Hall, in the county of Nottingham, esq., daughter and co-heir of Henry Beresford, of Alsop in Le dale, in the county of Derby, who lived reli I. Elizabeth, m. to Thomas Sherman, giously and died 16th March, 1628, aged thirtyLondon. seven." worthy of having such a mark of distinction conferred upon them. This honorary reward to be bestowed upon the loyal and firm adherents of royalty in its darkest days was never carried into effect; the advisers of CHARLES II., prudently considering that such a step would only have a tendency to keep alive those dissensions and party feuds which every true patriot would wish to consign to oblivion. Richard died 12th March, 1664, leaving eight daughters and one son, I. ROBERT, his heir. 1. Anne, m. to Paul Ballidon, of Derby, whose daughter, Catherine, was m. to William Coke, of Trusley, of whom presently. 11. Susanna, m. to Edward Wilmot, of Spondon, in the county of Derby, barrister-at-law, son of Edward Wilmot, D.D. and had issue, 1. Robert Wilmot, who rebuilt the family seat at Chaddesden. 2. Edward Wilmot, m. to Catherine - Cassandra - Isabella Coke, of whom presently. 3. Richard Wilmot, m. to Henrietta, daughter of William Cavendish, of Doveridge, in the county of Derby. III. Emma, died unm. buried in All Saints' church, Derby. He left issue, 1. Daniel Parker, fellow of upon 1. Emma-Matilda, m. Colonel 2. Dorothy, m. to Thomas Hatrell, d. s. p. 3. Sarah, m. to Henry Hatrell, d. s. p. v. John, doctor in physic, d. 18th No The following inscription is to be seen in the church of All Saints', Derby, which is in the im IV. Elizabeth, m. to John Ward, rector mediate vicinity of the college, the residence of of Mickleover, near Derby. v. Catherine, died unm. VI. Isabel. VII. Frances, died young. the late Daniel-Parker Coke: "In a vault near this pillar are deposited the remains of Thomas Coke, esq. and Matilda his wife. He departed this life on the 15th November, 1776, aged seventy VIII. Matilda, m. to Thomas Bull, and six. She on the 1st of Aug. 1777, aged seventyd. in 1719. The son and successor, ROBERT COKE, esq. of Trusley, m. Elizabeth, daughter of Anthony Samwell, fourth son of Sir William Samwell, bart. of the county of Northampton, auditor to Queen ELIZABETH, and descendant of the very ancient family originally seated at Restormel Castle, in Cornwall. Robert Coke's name appears at the head of the grand jury address for the county of Derby in 1682 to CHARLES II., expressive of their detestation of the association which had been formed to set aside the succession to the crown from the Duke of York. Robert d. 22nd January, 1713, aged sixty-seven, leaving issue, 1. WILLIAM, his heir. barrister-at-law, purveyor of wheat and groom of the closet to CHARLES II. was married three times. III. Francis, died in v. p. IV. Thomas, B.D. rector of Trusley, m Sarah, daughter and heir of William Willet, of Derby, and had one son, Thomas, barrister-at-law, who m. Matilda, daughter and heir of Thomas Goodwin, of Derby. He d. 15th November, 1776, and is one. They lived together man and wife more than forty years, (in times not abounding with such inthe evening of their days, when this world could stances), in perfect harmony and affection, and in afford nothing to them but what is inseparably the lot of humanity in so advanced a period, infirmities, they followed each other to a better and more perfect state, where they will receive the reward of their virtues. Out of filial gratitude and from sincere respect, this monument was erected to their memory by their only son, Daniel-Parker Coke, esq." He was buried in All Saints' church, where a white marble monument, bearing the following inscription, is erected: barrister-at-law, and for thirty-five years represen"Sacred to the memory of Daniel-Parker Coke, tative in Parliament for the town of Nottingham; in discharge of which trust his devoted attention to the interests of his trust, was no less conspicuous than was, in the whole of his political and private life, the most disinterested independence and thoughtlessness of self. In the unpaid and voluntary duties of the magistracy, sedulous and constant in attendance, high-minded, and in its true and just sense liberal, and by his mild and engaging manners endeared to all. In a state of protracted and hopeless infirmity, he sunk at last regretted by all, closing an active and useful life on the 6th day of December, in the year of our Lord 1825, aged eighty." |