Looking back at the Leicesters he Earls of Leicester have lived in SO MANY LEICESTERS! Holkham Hall since the middle of he earldom of Leicester was first Tcreated in 1107, but whenever an the 18th century. Thomas Coke, earl dies without a son to inherit the T title it lapses and can then be granted who built the hall and created the park, is to an entirely unrelated family. Over the starting point for this exhibition, which the centuries this happened three times before Thomas was created earl in illustrates succeeding generations as far as the 1744. Previous Earls of Leicester had 7th and present Earl of Leicester. included Simon de Montfort, champion of the barons against the crown in the Their story would not exist, however, without the 13th century, and Queen Elizabeth I’s century of family ambition that paved the way for favourite, Robert Dudley. Thomas Coke’s achievements. The Coke family has no connection with any of these earlier Earls of Leicester. fortune made in the law. Sir Edward Coke, Attorney homas Coke’s only son died before AGeneral and Chief Justice under Queen Elizabeth Thim so the peerage once again fell and James I, used his wealth to endow all his sons with into abeyance when he died in 1759. The hall and estate passed to his great-nephew, property. He bought one of three manors at Holkham in 1609 a commoner, who was always known as in order to bequeath it to his fourth son, John. ‘Coke of Norfolk’. In 1837, when he was 83, the title was re-created for him. In the good marriage. John married Meriel, a young girl who meantime, however, it had been granted Ahad inherited one of the other manors, gaining both to a rival local family, the Townshends of Raynham, an estate only a few miles away. her land and also the Wheatley manor house which remained T. W. Coke’s official title was therefore the Coke family home from 1612 to 1756. ‘Earl of Leicester of Holkham’ and until the Townshend line died out in 1855, there ate took a hand. John’s elder brothers died unmarried or were two Earls of Leicester living near to Fwithout sons, leaving him to inherit most of his father’s lands each other. and wealth. n each creation, the numbering of the Iearls started afresh. In Holkham history, shrewd eye for opportunities came into play. John bought Thomas Coke is known as the 1st Earl, Amore Holkham land, drained marshes and enlarged his Top: 1590 map of T. W. Coke became the 1st Earl Holkham with Neales and of the 2nd creation and his house. By the time of his death in 1661, he had firmly established Wheatley manor houses circled. descendants are the 2nd to 7th the Coke family in the ranks of the local gentry. His estate survived Above left Sir Edward Coke. Earls. This numbering is helpful a roller coaster of mixed fortunes during the next fifty years and Above right: This inscription, in a book recording his as five of the earls were named Thomas William Coke. passed safely to Thomas Coke when he came of age in 1718. children’s marriage settlements, expressed Sir Edward The 1st Earl. Coke’s determination to establish his family line. The 1st Earl of the 1st creation olkham Hall was the creation of Thomas Coke (1697- H1759). He had often spent time at the old manor house at Holkham before he was orphaned at the age of ten. The need to channel his intelligence and energy, and limit his favourite distractions of cock fighting and shooting, prompted his guardians to send him on an unusually long Grand Tour. From the age of 15 to 21, he visited much of Europe, gaining a taste for books, sculpture, architecture and art. He fell in love with Italy, with all its classical associations The Cockpit, and, in particular, the architectural style of Andrea Palladio. Engraving by Hogarth. Despite the efforts of his guardians, After his return, quickly followed by his marriage to Lady Thomas Coke’s love of cockfighting lasted all his life. It seems that The 1st Earl and builder of Margaret Tufton, Coke spent much of the 1720s planning Hogarth, who is said not to have Holkham Hall. liked the earl, shows him here as Holkham Hall, his own temple to the arts, worthy of the the corpulent, bespectacled gambler in the midst of the jostling throng at a treasures he had collected on his travels. Building started in 1734 and the project was to fight at the Royal Cockpit in Birdcage Walk. The earl is distinguishable by the badge of the Order of the take 30 long years, a period that would see his creation as Earl of Leicester in 1744, the Bath which he is also wearing in this miniature. death of the couple’s only son, Edward, in 1753, and Thomas’ own death in 1759. His household had moved into the new hall only three years earlier and it was his widow who ensured that it was finally completed and furnished exactly as Thomas had envisaged. Right: Bill from Francesco Draft proposal by William Kent for Zuccarelli, 1758. Bill for painting the designs the Marble Hall. Coke’s vision was to create for the tapestries in the a Palladian hall in the heart Green State Bedroom. of the Norfolk countryside. He also painted the Four This design for the Marble Seasons, above the doors Hall was drastically altered in the same room, and by Coke before it was built. portraits of the earl and countess. He did much of Left: Lady Margaret. his work while staying at She completed the Hall after Holkham with his family. her husband’s death. The 1st Earl of the 2nd creation homas William Coke succeeded to Holkham in T1776 when he was not quite 22 and his attention soon turned to farming. He championed new crops and methods and promoted improved livestock breeding. Agricultural improvement was fashionable and profitable and Coke was charismatic, energetic and hospitable. Holkham soon became famous for his annual three-day Sheep Shearings which drew hundreds of enthusiastic visitors from far and wide. The earl inspecting Southdown sheep with his shepherds Coke converted two rooms to form the Manuscript and Painting by Weaver. Classical Libraries we see today, but his greatest imprint on Holkham was outdoors. He expanded the park, swept away outdated formal garden features in favour of more natural landscaping, built the Great Barn and new ‘Coke of Norfolk’, the 1st Earl Painting by Reinagle walled kitchen gardens and planted two million trees. Coke was MP for Norfolk for fifty years. He made Holkham one of the great Whig houses, frequently entertaining national figures for weeks on end in the shooting season. ‘Coke of Norfolk’ was proud of being the ‘greatest commoner in England’ but accepted a The 1778 map shows Holkham at beginning of Thomas William Coke’s time. peerage after the accession Coke took the remaining tenanted farms ‘in hand’ to become part of the hall farm, demolished the remnants of the old village near the of Queen Victoria in Coke’s Sheep Shearings were the south end of the lake, removed the formal basin south of the Hall, forerunners of todays county shows. added curved extensions to each end of the lake, expanded the park 1837, five years before his to its present size and encircled it with a wall nine miles long. At the Great Barn, designed by Samuel death at the age of 88. Wyatt, vistors admired his Devon cattle. The 2nd Earl of Leicester he 2nd Earl of Leicester, ‘the Victorian earl’, was Tborn in December 1822, ten months after his father’s unexpected second marriage at the age of 68. He inherited the Holkham Estate in July 1842, when not yet 20. His lifelong passions were shooting, forestry and outdoors practical work. He was responsible for building the extensive range of stables, brew house, artesian well and laundry to the east of the hall, and the King Edward VII visits the Earl of Leicester in 1908. Towards the end of his life, stone deaf and nearly terraces, fountain and conservatory on the south. He blind, the earl had his bed wheeled into the saloon every day. During a visit by his old friends, King had 18 children by two marriages, the youngest born Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, the queen said to 49 years after the eldest. The 2nd Earl died in 1909 at Lady Leicester, “He looks so pink and white, I should like to kiss him”. The countess wrote this on his slate Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester, the age of 86 after 66 years in charge of Holkham. whereupon he shouted, “For God’s sake tell her not to!” by George Richmond. Left: ‘Tom Coke’s Right: Note concerning the appointment of a new headmaster first letter’. to Holkham school. Written to his mother In his old age, when the 2nd Earl’s deafness and poor eyesight had in January 1829 when he become a problem, his land agent would keep him in touch with what was just six years old. was happening by means of large scribbled notes. This Right: Four one refers to applications generations in 1908 for the post of headmaster The earl, aged 85, with at Holkham village school in his eldest son, Viscount 1904. Coke (1848 - 1941), his ‘We have seen a man who grandson (1880 - 1949) is good in all ways but and great grandson appearance. He is rather fat (1908-76).