7th Earl of Leicester (1936-2015)

[bx...@yahoo.com]

According to multiple sources including Leigh Rayment's excellent website, the 7th Earl of Leicester, Edward Douglas Coke (b. 1936) died on April 24, 2015.  He was 78.

He is succeeded in his peerages by his eldest son, Thomas Edward Coke (b. 1965).  The 8th Earl previously held the courtesy title of Viscount Coke.

The new earl has 4 children, including one son, Edward Horatio Coke (b. 2003), the  heir apparent.

Brooke

[Richard R]

There is an obit in today's (27 April) Times, in which it is stated the Earl died on Saturday 25 April 2015

[Richard R]

The date of 25 April is confirmed on the homepage of the Holkham Hall wesbsite:

The Earl of Leicester

Edward Coke, 7th Earl of Leicester CBE DL, died in the early hours of Saturday 25th April. Lady Leicester and all his children were with him at his bedside. Lord Leicester took over the running of Holkham in 1973 and he transformed the estate as well as playing an important role in public life both nationally and locally. Lord Leicester will be sorely missed by all who knew him and worked for him over the years. Our thoughts are with his family.

Holkham Estate

[Hovite]

According to The Complete Peerage, the title is not Earl of Leicester (extinct 1855), but Earl of Leicester of Holkham (created 1837). The editor speculated  in a footnote that future creations might include Earl of Chester of Camberwell and Duke of Cornwall of Clapham Rise.

[Richard R]

The convention has always been for higher degrees in the peerage not to include the territorial designation, however many times the peerage is recreated.  See below the link to the obit in today's Telegraph (28 April):

[EXTRACT]

The Earl of Leicester

Countryman and conservationist who transformed the fortunes of his family’s Norfolk estate

Edward Douglas Coke was born in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on May 6 1936, the eldest son of Anthony Coke, the son of a younger son of the 3rd Earl of Leicester (who had been killed at Gallipoli) by Moyra Crossley, the first of his three wives. ….

Edward spent much of his childhood on a remote farm in South Africa with no electricity…. After leaving St Anthony’s College, Grahamstown, he worked for a veterinary pharmaceutical company followed by an agricultural research organisation.

Neither he nor his father had much expectation of inheriting the earldom. However the 5th Earl had daughters but no sons and by the 1960s it was clear that his cousin Anthony would inherit the title and the Holkham estate.

As the next in line, Edward Coke came to England at the age of 26 and settled in the Holkham area in order to take up farming and familiarise himself with the estate, taking over its management in 1973. In 1976, following the death of the 5th Earl, his father became the 6th Earl but chose to remain in South Africa, so Edward, as Viscount Coke, took over the full responsibility for the leadership as well as the management of the estate. He became the 7th Earl of Leicester on his father’s death in 1994….

Edward Coke married, first, in 1962, Valerie Potter. The marriage was dissolved in 1985 and the following year he married, secondly, Sarah de Chair (née Forde), who survives him with the daughter and two sons of his first marriage….

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11566127/The-Earl-of-Leicester-obituary.html

[marquess]

According to Debretts 2011, there are 11 males in remainder to the earldom of Leicester, but only the new Viscount Coke was born this century and all the other males are at least 40 or more. Does anyone know if Michael Coke who was shown as married and had a daughter born in 2006 has had any male issue? 

[bx...@yahoo.com]

marquess, according to the latest Debretts (2015), Michael has a son, Harry David James, b. 2012.

Good news for this peerage!

Brooke

[Richard R]

Death notice from the Times of 30 April 2015: EARL OF LEICESTER, CBE DL Edward Douglas Coke, 7th Earl of Leicester died on 25th April 2015, aged 78. Son of the 6th Earl, Anthony Louis Lovel Coke and Moyra Joan Crossley. Beloved husband to Sarah, Countess of Leicester and father to Thomas, Viscount Coke, Lady Laura Paul and the Hon Rupert Coke. The Earl of Leicester was one of Norfolk's leading figures and played a key role in conserving and modernising the Holkham Estate over 40 years. Private family funeral at St Withburga's Church, Holkham Estate, Norfolk. A memorial service will be held in Norwich Cathedral in late June, details to be announced.

[LoopyCrown3]

Holkham Hall posted this on their facebook page

“The Earl of Leicester was buried today, Friday 1st May, at a private ceremony at St Withburga’s Church on the estate. The casket was taken from Holkham Hall to the church by his beloved Massey Ferguson tractor, driven by his brother The Hon. Johnny Coke. The tractor, which was the first one he purchased at Holkham, had been recently restored for his birthday which would have been on 6th May. The casket was made by the estate’s joinery team from Holkham oak. The route to the church was lined by over 200 estate employees and the cortège was followed by family, friends and estate employees. The funeral service included a reading by Lord Leicester’s younger son The Hon. Rupert Coke and the tribute was given by Viscount Coke.”

[Michael Rhodes]

_. A Memorial Service for the 7th Earl of Leicester will be held at Norwich Cathedral on 17 July, 2015, at 2.30pm. Enquiries Holkham Estate Office ~ enqu...@holkham.co.uk

[ThomasFoolery]

From the Court Circular:

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh were represented by Sir Timothy Colman KG at the Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of the Earl of Leicester which was held in Norwich Cathedral this afternoon.
The Prince of Wales was represented by the Marquess of Cholmondeley.
The Earl and Countess of Wessex were represented by Sir Nicholas Bacon, Bt..
The Princess Royal was represented by Lady Carew Pole.
The Duke and Duchess of Kent were represented by Mr. Anthony Duckworth-Chad