Coke of Norfolk
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The Right Honourable The Earl of Leicester |
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| Member of Parliament for Norfolk |
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In office 1807 – 1832 |
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| Preceded by | Edward Coke |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Member of Parliament for Derby |
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Assumed office 1807 |
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| Preceded by | Edward Coke |
| Succeeded by | Edward Coke |
| Member of Parliament for Norfolk |
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In office 1790 – 1807 |
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| Preceded by | Sir Edward Astley, 4th Baronet |
| Succeeded by | Edward Coke |
| Member of Parliament for Norfolk |
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In office 1776 – 1784 |
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| Preceded by | Wenman Coke |
| Succeeded by | John Wodehouse, 1st Baron Wodehouse |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Thomas William Coke 6 May 1754 London |
| Died | 30 June 1842 (aged 88) Longford, Derbyshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Whig |
| Spouse(s) | Jane Dutton, Anne Keppel |
| Children | with Jane Dutton:
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| Residence | Holkham Hall |
Thomas William Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (6 May 1754 – 30 June 1842), known as Coke of Norfolk or Coke of Holkham, was a British politician and agricultural reformer. Born to Wenman Coke, Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby, and his wife Elizabeth, Coke was educated at several schools, including Eton College, before undertaking a Grand Tour of Europe. After returning to Britain and being married, Coke's father died, leaving him the owner of a 30,000 acre Norfolk estate. Returned to Parliament in 1776 for Norfolk, Coke became a close friend of Charles James Fox, and joined his Eton schoolmate William Windham in his support of the American colonists during the American Revolutionary War. As a supporter of Fox, Coke was one of the MPs who lost their seats in the 1784 general election, and he returned to Norfolk to work on farming, hunting, and the maintenance and expansion of Holkham Hall, his ancestral home.
Coke was again returned to Parliament in 1790, sitting continuously until 1832, and he primarily spoke on matters of local interest, such as the Corn Laws. His second focus was on civil liberties, and he spoke out against the government's response to the Peterloo Massacre and similar events. Described as the "greatest commoner in England", he chose the passage of the Great Reform Act 1832 as the moment to retire, later being made the Earl of Leicester in July 1837. After a short illness, Coke died on 30 June 1842, and was succeeded as Earl by his son Thomas. Coke's main legacy is as an agricultural reformer, not as a politician; he has historically been credited with sparking the British Agricultural Revolution through the reforms he made to farming on his estates. Later historians have questioned this, however, noting that the developments credited to him are most likely the work of other individuals; nevertheless, he has still been described as "the real hero of Norfolk agriculture".
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