Thomas Coke, 4th Earl of Leicester

Thomas William Coke, 4th Earl of Leicester (July 1880 – 21 August 1949) was a British peer, styled Viscount Coke from 1909 to 1941.

Coke was the son of Thomas William Coke, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Hon. Alice Emily White. Educated at Eton and Sandhurst, he entered the Scots Guards as a cadet, and was promoted to second lieutenant on 21 February 1900.[1] Seconded for service in the Boer War on 26 November 1901,[2] and was promoted to lieutenant on 22 April 1902.[3] He went on half-pay on 13 April 1905 due to illness,[4] but returned to service on 8 November 1905.[5]

Coke married Marion Gertrude Trefusis, the daughter of Col. Hon. Walter Trefusis and Lady Mary Montagu-Douglas-Scott on 2 December 1905. They had five children:

Coke was promoted to captain on 14 March 1906.[6] He resigned his commission on 6 March 1909, after his father succeeded to the earldom and he became heir apparent; his uncle John, then a lieutenant in the Guards, was promoted captain in his place.[7] On 1 October 1909, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Norfolk Yeomanry.[8] Made a captain in the General Reserve of Officers on 4 June 1911,[9] he surrendered his commission in the General Reserve on 10 July 1912 to return to the Scots Guards as a captain.[10] He would serve with the Guards for the duration of World War I. On 1 May 1917 he was appointed an aide-de-camp.[11]

Coke was also a Knight of the Order of St. John, and a Justice of the Peace for Norfolk. He was a talented violinist.[12] He succeeded his father as Earl of Leicester in 1941 and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk in 1944. He died in 1949 and was succeeded by his elder son Thomas.

A recording that his daughter, Lady Silvia, made recounting the history of Holkham House was made at the age of 90, and is a British Library exemplar of the conservative received pronunciation accent of English.

References

  1. ^ London Gazette: no. 27167. pp. 1173–1174. 1900-02-20. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  2. ^ London Gazette: no. 27395. pp. 149–149. 1901-01-07. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  3. ^ London Gazette: no. 27432. p. 3091. 1902-05-09. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  4. ^ London Gazette: no. 27786. p. 2974. 1905-04-21. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  5. ^ London Gazette: no. 27851. p. 7424. 1905-11-07. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  6. ^ London Gazette: no. 27897. p. 2062. 1906-03-23. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  7. ^ London Gazette: no. 28249. p. 3560. 1909-05-11. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  8. ^ London Gazette: no. 28340. p. 1211. 1910-02-18. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  9. ^ London Gazette: no. 28503. p. 4426. 1911-06-13. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  10. ^ London Gazette: no. 28625. pp. 4973–4974. 1912-07-09. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  11. ^ London Gazette: no. 30090. pp. 5071–4974. 19127-05-22. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  12. ^ "Holkham Hall Family Tree". http://www.holkham.co.uk/html/family_tree.html. Retrieved 2009-11-15. 

External links

Honorary titles
Preceded by
Russell James Colman		 Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk
1944–1949		 Succeeded by
Sir Edmund Bacon
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Thomas Coke		 Earl of Leicester
1941–1949		 Succeeded by
Thomas William Edward Coke