Edward Coke, Viscount Coke

Edward Coke, Viscount Coke (2 February 1719 – 31 August 1753), styled The Hon. Edward Coke from 1728 to 1744, was a British Member of Parliament. He represented Norfolk in Parliament from 1741 to 1747 and Harwich from 1747 to his death.

The Viscount Coke
Portrait of Viscount Coke by Rosalba Carriera
Born	The Hon. Edward Coke (1719-02-02)2 February 1719
Died	31 August 1753(1753-08-31) (aged 34)
Spouse(s)	Lady Mary Coke
Parents	Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester Lady Margaret Tufton

He was the only child and heir of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, and his wife Margaret Coke, 19th Baroness de Clifford. The family estate was at Holkham Hall, Norfolk.

Marriage

He was married on 1 April 1747 to Lady Mary Campbell (6 February 1727 – 30 September 1811), the fifth and youngest daughter of the soldier and politician John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll (1680–1743), and his second wife, Jane (c.1683–1767), a maid of honour to Queen Anne and Caroline, Princess of Wales. Their courtship had been strained, and in retaliation Edward left her alone on their wedding night and from then on virtually imprisoned her. She reacted by refusing to have sex with him. She never used the title Viscountess Coke.

Their families went to litigation, and eventually produced a settlement in 1750 whereby Lady Mary could live with her mother at Sudbrook but had to remain married to Edward until his death.

He died in 1753, when Mary was 26, predeceasing his father. They had no children and the earldom thus became extinct when his father died in 1759. His father's estate, including Holkham Hall, went instead to Edward's cousin. Lady Mary never remarried.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Edward Coke, Viscount Coke

16. Richard Coke (grandson of Sir Edward Coke) 8. Robert Coke 17. Mary Rous 4. Edward Coke 18. Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds 9. Lady Anne Osborne 19. Bridget Bertie 2. Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester 20. Sir John Newton, 2nd Baronet 10. Sir John Newton, 3rd Baronet 21. Mary Eyre 5. Carey Newton 22. William Heveningham 11. Abigail Heveningham 23. Mary Carey 1. Edward Coke, Viscount Coke 24. Nicholas Tufton, 1st Earl of Thanet 12. John Tufton, 2nd Earl of Thanet 25. Frances Cecil 6. Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet 26. Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset 13. Lady Margaret Sackville 27. Lady Anne Clifford, 14th Baroness de Clifford 3. Lady Margaret Tufton 28. William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 14. Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 29. Elizabeth Basset 7. Lady Catherine Cavendish 30. William Pierrepont 15. Frances Pierrepoint 31. Elizabeth Harries

Sources

• https://web.archive.org/web/20120301185712/http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/index1369.htm
• https://web.archive.org/web/20181006224549/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Ncommons2.htm
• https://web.archive.org/web/20091220042104/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Hcommons1.htm
• http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/coke-hon-edward-1719-53

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Sir Edmund Bacon, Bt Armine Wodehouse	Member of Parliament for Norfolk 1741–1747 With: Armine Wodehouse	Succeeded by Armine Wodehouse Hon. George Townshend
Preceded by Hill Mussenden John Phillipson	Member of Parliament for Harwich 1747–1753 With: John Phillipson	Succeeded by John Phillipson Wenman Coke