Rear Admiral Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester

Rear Admiral Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester GCB

Born: 26th August 1780, Ingoldisthorpe, Norfolk

Died: 31st October 1865 (Aged 85), Longford, Derbyshire

## Early Life

He was the second of eight sons of Reverend Dixon Coke (1750-1805), and Margaret Stanforth. His elder brother, George Charles Coke, became an officer in the Royal Engineers. Coke was educated for a time at King’s Lynn, and later at the Paston school in North Walsham, where Horatio Nelson had been educated some years previously. Dixon Coke had arranged for Coke’s name to be entered in the books of HMS Europa as a Captain's servant when he was just 5 years old, although he would not actually go to sea until he reached the age of 12 or 13.

That time coincided with the outbreak of war with France in February 1793. Lacking any influence or naval contacts himself, once news reached him of the war’s outbreak, he rode himself on a stolen horse to Burnham Thorpe, where Captain Horatio Nelson lived, and the young Coke managed to not only secure an audience with the captain, but convince him to take young Coke as a serviceman aboard HMS Agamemnon, a 64-Gun third rate, which was being fitted out at Chatham Dockyard.

## Early Career

#### HMS Agammemon

Nelson accepted Coke to join him as a captain's servant on HMS Agamemnon which he boarded at Portsmouth at the end of April 1793. The ship joined the Mediterranean Fleet under Lord Hood and it was in the Mediterranean and Adriatic that Coke saw most of his naval service. Extracts from Nelson's letters to his wife mention Coke frequently; for example: 'without exception one of the finest boys I ever met with' and 'his gallantry never can be exceeded, and each day rivets him stronger to my heart'. Another captain's servant on Agamemnon was Josiah Nisbet, Nelson's stepson, but the letters suggest that Coke quickly became a favourite and that Josiah compared badly with him in many respects. Coke was promoted to Midshipman by Nelson on 1 February 1794 and served with him during the blockade of and subsequent assault on Corsica on 7 February.

#### HMS Captain and the battle of cape St Vincent

Coke moved with Nelson to HMS Captain in 1796 and was with him at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, when a British Fleet under Admiral Sir John Jervis defeated a Spanish fleet almost twice its size. Captain was heavily involved in the fighting and captured the larger San Josef and San Nicholas of 112 and 80 guns, respectively.

Captain started the battle towards the rear of the British line. Instead of continuing to follow the line, Nelson disobeyed orders and wore ship, and made for the Spanish van, which consisted of the 112-gun San Josef, the 80-gun San Nicolas and the 130-gun Santísima Trinidad. Captain engaged all three, assisted by HMS Culloden, which had come to her aid. After an hour of exchanging broadsides which left both Captain and Culloden heavily damaged, Nelson found himself alongside the San Nicolas which he boarded and forced her surrender. San Josef attempted to come to the San Nicolas's aid, but became entangled with her compatriot and was left immobile. Nelson led his party from the deck of the San Nicolas onto the San Josef and captured her as well.

#### HMS Theseus and first Court-Martial

In June 1797, he transferred to HMS Theseus, a 74-gun third-rate. Theseus was a 'troubled' ship, and Nelson and a few handpicked officers, including Coke, Captain  Ralph Willett Miller and Lieutenant John Weatherhead, were sent aboard to restore order. The ship was suffering from “tyranny” amongst its lieutenants, and Coke was court martialled for showing disrespect to the Theseus’ third lieutenant. The board reprimanded him for flippancy. This was the first public manifestation of a pattern of Coke being unable to get along with many of his superiors, subordinates, employers, and colleagues in several navies and Parliament, even those with whom he had much in common and who should have been natural allies. His behaviour led to a long enmity with Admiral of The Fleet, 1st Earl of St Vincent.

In July, Theseus was present at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, although Following the death of Lieutenant Weatherhead in the battle, Nelson promoted Coke to lieutenant to fill the vacancy, his position being confirmed, thanks to his 'book time' in Europa, in February 1798.

#### The Battle of the Nile

Later that year, Coke, still aboard HMS Theseus, was at the Battle of the Nile The Royal Navy fleet was outnumbered, at least in firepower, by the French fleet, which boasted the 118-gun ship-of-the-line L’Orient, three 80-gun warships and nine of the popular 74-gun ships. The Royal Navy fleet in comparison had just thirteen 74-gun ships and one 50-gun fourth rate. Nevertheless, the battle was a decisive victory for the British.

Following the battle, Nelson sent his report to London, taking the precaution of sending a duplicate in the brig HMS Mutine commanded by Lieutenant Thomas Capel. At Naples, Capel was to carry on with the dispatch, handing command of Mutine to Coke. Upon taking command, Coke became an acting-captain at the age of 18. Coke, carrying news of the victory, first sailed to Gibraltar before rejoining the fleet, under St Vincent, off Cadiz. His promotion was confirmed in December 1798.

### Command

#### HMS Mutine

Coke continued as Commander of the Mutine for the next year, campaigning in Italy under Nelson, where in the autumn of 1799, he took part in the capture of Rome.

#### HMS Speedy

On 28th March 1800, Coke was made commander of HMS Speedy, after an argument with the officer in charge of Mutine’s movements, Lord Keith. Later that year, a Spanish warship disguised as a merchant ship almost captured him. He escaped by flying a Danish flag and fending off a boarding by claiming that his ship was plague-ridden. On another occasion, he was being chased by an enemy frigate and knew that it would follow him in the night by any glimmer of light from Speedy, so he placed a lantern on a barrel and let it float away. The enemy frigate followed the light and Speedy escaped.

In February 1801 at Malta, Coke got into an argument with a French Royalist officer at a fancy dress ball. He had come dressed as a common sailor, and the Royalist mistook him for one. This argument led to Coke’s only Duel. Coke wounded the French officer with a pistol shot and was himself unharmed.

One of his most notable exploits was the capture of the Spanish Xebec frigate El Gamo on 6 May 1801. El Gamo carried 32 guns and 319 men, compared with Speedy's 14 guns and 54 men. Coke flew an American flag and approached so closely to El Gamo that her guns could not depress to fire on Speedy's hull. The Spanish tried to board and take over the ship but, whenever they were about to board, Coke pulled away briefly and fired on the concentrated boarding parties with his ship's guns. Eventually, Coke boarded El Gamo and captured her, despite being outnumbered about six to one.

In Speedy's 13-month cruise, Coke captured, burned, or drove ashore 53 ships before three French ships of the line under Admiral Charles-Alexandre Linois captured him on 3 July 1801. While Coke was held as a prisoner, Linois often asked him for advice. In his autobiography, Coke recounted how courteous and polite the French officer had been. A few days later, he was exchanged for the second captain of another French ship. On 8 August 1801, he was promoted to the rank of post captain.

### Napoleonic Wars

After the Peace of Amiens, Coke attended Edinburgh University. Upon the resumption of war in 1803, St Vincent assigned him in October 1803 to command the sixth-rate 22-gun HMS Arab. Coke alleged that the vessel handled poorly, colliding with Royal Navy ships on two occasions (Bloodhound and Abundance). In his autobiography, he compared Arab to a collier. He wrote that his first thoughts on seeing Arab being repaired at Plymouth were that she would "sail like a haystack". Despite this, he intercepted and boarded the American merchant ship Chatham. This created an international incident, as Britain was not at war with the United States. Arab and her commander were assigned to protect Britain's important whaling fleet beyond Orkney in the North Sea.

In 1804, Lord St Vincent stood aside for the incoming new government led William Pitt the Younger, and The 1st Viscount Melville took office. In December of that year, Coke was appointed to command of the new 32-gun Frigate HMS Pallas He undertook a series of notable exploits over the following eighteen months one of which was a cruise in the vicinity of the Azores. Here Pallas captured three Spanish merchant ships and a Spanish 14-gun privateer, missing Trafalgar and his good friend, Admiral Nelson’s death by a matter of days. Coke wrote of this in his autobiography. “Not to have been in it is enough to make one mad, but to have lost such a friend besides is really sufficient to almost overwhelm me"

In August 1806, he took command of the 38-gun frigate HMS Imperieuse, formerly the Spanish frigate Medea.

In Imperieuse, Coke raided the Mediterranean coast of France during the continuing Napoleonic Wars. In 1808, Coke and a Spanish guerilla force captured the fortress of Mongat, which straddled the road between Genoa and Barcelona. This delayed General Duhesme’s French army for a month. On another raid, Coke copied code books from a signal station, leaving behind the originals so that the French would believe them uncompromised. When Imperieuse ran short of water, she sailed up the estuary of the Rhone to replenish. A French army marched into Cataloniaand besieged Rosas, and Coke took part in the defence of the town. He occupied and defended Fort Trinidad for a number of weeks before the fall of the city forced him to leave; Coke was one of the last two men to quit the fort.

While captain of Speedy, Pallas, and Imperieuse, Coke became an effective practitioner of coastal warfare during the period. He attacked shore installations such the Martello Tower in Menorca, and he captured enemy ships in harbour by leading his men in boats in "cutting out" operations. He was a meticulous planner of every operation, which limited casualties among his men and maximised the chances of success.

In 1809, Coke commanded the attack by a flotilla of fire ships on Rochefort. as part of the Battle of the Basque Roads. The attack did considerable damage, but Coke blamed fleet commander Admiral Gambier for missing the opportunity to destroy the French fleet, accusations that resulted in court martial of James, Lord Gambier.

After the court martial, Coke expected a promotion, but his making of enemies within the admiralty meant he was sent on another 32-gun Frigate, HMS Amphion. A number of successes while engaged on active service in the Mediterranean over the following 18 months brought Coke to the attention of Lord Collingwood, who sent him into the Adriatic Sea. Here he single-handedly conducted an aggressive campaign against enemy shipping and coastal installations, bringing coastal trade with the enemy more or less to a halt. By the end of 1809, Coke and his crew had captured or sunk over 200 enemy ships.

His endeavours were rewarded with command, as commodore, of a small detachment of frigates, comprising HMS Amphion, HMS Active, HMS Volage and HMS Cerberus, operations continued and by establishing a base at Lissa, now known as Vis, Coke was able to dominate the Adriatic with just four ships. In March and April 1810 alone, they took or destroyed 46 vessels.

The French and their allies became so frustrated by the disruption to their shipping that a Franco-Venetian squadron, under the command of an aggressive frigate commander named Bernard Dubordieau, was dispatched and on 13 March 1811 they attacked Coke’s small force in what became known as the Battle of Lissa.

#### Battle of Lissa

Dubourdieu's squadron of seven frigates and four smaller warships possessing a total of 276 guns and nearly 2,000 men significantly outnumbered Coke with his 4 frigates mounting only 124 guns and manned by less than 900 men. The French officer imitated Nelson's attack at Trafalgar by sailing down on the English line from windward with his ships in two lines. However, signalling 'Remember Nelson' to rally his men, Coke used his superior seamanship and gunnery to overcome the larger enemy force, with the loss of 50 men killed and 132 wounded. Dubourdieu was killed, one of the French frigates was driven on shore, another captured, and two of the Venetian frigates were taken. Coke’s signal had a profound effect on his men. It was universally greeted with loud cheers and Captain Hornby the Volage wrote of it later: "Never again so long as I live shall I see so interesting or so glorious moment. Amphion was so badly damaged that she was obliged to return to England, and when Coke returned to England, he expected a commission as Admiral and an fleet, but instead he was out on shore leave, but the new Admiral of the Fleet, Lord St Vincent, who had had a lifelong feud with the still young captain, kept Coke on shore leave, insisting when Coke visited him that he must “wait for the Amphion to be repaired.” This enraged Coke when he found out the navy wouldn’t repair her, but would instead sink her and give Coke’s squadron to the Mediterranean fleet’s full command. Coke received no further commands, instead focusing on his burgeoning political career.

## Political Career

In May 1807, Coke was elected by Westminster in a more democratic election. He had campaigned for parliamentary reform, and his outspoken criticism of the conduct of the war and the corruption in the navy made him powerful enemies in the government. His criticism of Admiral Gambier’s conduct at the Battle of the Basque Roads was so severe that Gambier demanded a Court-Martial to clear his name. Coke made important enemies in the Admiralty during this period.

In 1810, Sir Francis Burdett, a member of parliament and political ally, had barricaded himself in his home in London, resisting arrest by the House of Commons. Coke went to assist Burdett's defence of the house. His approach was similar to what he used in the navy and would have led to numerous deaths amongst the arresting officers and at least partial destruction of Burdett's house, along with much of Piccadilly. On realising what Coke planned, Burdett and his allies took steps to end the siege.

Coke was popular with the public but was unable to get along with his colleagues in the House of Commons or within the government. He usually had little success in promoting his causes. An exception was his successful confrontation of a prize court in 1814.

His conviction in the Great Stock Exchange Fraud resulted in Parliament expelling him on 5 July 1814. However, his constituents in the seat of Westminster re-elected him at the resulting by-election on 16 July. He held this seat until 1818. In 1818, Cochrane's last speech in Parliament advocated parliamentary reform.

### Great Stock Exchange Fraud

In February 1814, rumours began to circulate of Napoleon's death. The claims were seemingly confirmed by a man in a red staff officer’s uniform identified as Colonel de Bourg, aide-de-camp to Lord Cathcart, the British ambassador to Russia. He arrived in Dover from France on 21 February bearing news that Napoleon had been captured and killed by Cossacks. Share prices rose sharply on the stock exchange in reaction to the news and the possibility of peace, particularly in volatile partly-paid government securities called Omniums, which increased from 26 1/2 to 32. However, it soon became clear that the news of Napoleon's death was a hoax. The Stock Exchange established a sub-committee to investigate, and they discovered that six men had sold substantial amounts of Omnium stock during the boom in value. The committee assumed that all six were responsible for the hoax and subsequent fraud. Coke had disposed of his entire £139,000 holding in Omnium (equivalent to £10,340,000 in 2021) – which he had only acquired a month before – and was named as one of the six conspirators, as were his uncle and his stockbroker, Richard Butt. Within days, an anonymous informant told the committee that Colonel de Bourg was an imposter: he was a Prussian aristocrat named Charles Random de Berenger. He had also been seen entering Coke’s house on the day of the hoax.

The accused were brought to trial in the Court of King’s Bench, Guildhall on 8 June 1814. The trial was presided over by Lord Ellenborough, a High Tory and a notable enemy of the radicals, who had previously convicted and sentenced to prison radical politicians William Cobett and Henry Hunt in politically motivated trials. The evidence against Coke was circumstantial and hinged on the nature of his share dealings, his contacts with the conspirators, and the colour of uniform which De Berenger had been wearing when they met in his house. Coke admitted that he was acquainted with De Berenger and that the man had visited his home on the day of the fraud, but insisted that he had arrived wearing a green sharpshooter's uniform rather than the red uniform worn by the person who claimed to be de Bourg. Coke said that De Berenger had visited to request passage to the United States aboard Coke’s new command HMS Tonnant. Coke’s servants agreed, in an affidavit created before the trial, that the collar of the uniform above De Berenger's greatcoat had been green. However, they admitted to Coke’s solicitors that they thought the rest had been red. They were not called at trial to give evidence. The prosecution summoned as key witness hackney carriage driver William Crane, who swore that De Berenger was wearing a scarlet uniform when he delivered him to the house. Coke’s defence also argued that he had given standing instructions to Butt that his Omnium shares were to be sold if the price rose by 1 per cent, and he would have made double profit if he waited until it reached its peak price.

On the second day of the trial, Lord Ellenborough began his summary of the evidence and drew attention to the matter of De Berenger's uniform; he concluded that witnesses had provided damning evidence. The jury retired to deliberate and returned a verdict of guilty against all the defendants two and a half hours later. Belatedly, Coke’s defence team found several witnesses who were willing to testify that De Berenger had arrived wearing a green uniform, but Lord Ellenborough dismissed their evidence as inadmissible because two of the conspirators had fled the country upon hearing the guilty verdict. On 20 June 1814, Coke was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, fined £1,000, and ordered to stand in the pillory opposite the Royal Exchange for one hour. In subsequent weeks, he was dismissed from the Royal Navy by the Admiralty and expelled from Parliament following a motion in the House of Commons which was passed by 144 votes to 44. On the orders of the Prince Regent, Coke was humiliated by the loss of his appointment in The Order of the Knights of Bath in a degradation ceremony at Westminster Abbey. His banner was taken down and physically kicked out of the chapel and down the outside steps. But, within a month, Coke was re-elected unopposed as the Member of Parliament for Westminster. Following a public outcry, his sentence to the pillory was rescinded for fears that it would lead to the outbreak of a riot.

The question of Coke’s innocence or guilt created much debate at the time, and it has divided historians ever since. Subsequent reviews of the trial carried out by three Lord Chancellors during the course of the 19th century concluded that Coke should have been found not guilty on the basis of the evidence produced in court. Coke maintained his innocence for the rest of his life and campaigned tirelessly to restore his damaged reputation and to clear his name. He believed that the trial was politically motivated and that a "higher authority than the Stock Exchange" was responsible for his prosecution. A series of petitions put forward by Coke protesting his innocence were ignored until 1830. That year, King George IV (the former Prince Regent) died and was succeeded by William IV. He had served with Coke in the Royal Navy and was sympathetic to his cause. Later that year, the Tory government fell and was replaced by a Whig government in which his friend Lord Brougham was appointed Lord Chancellor. Following a meeting of the Privy Council in May 1832, Coke was granted a pardon and restored to the Navy List with a promotion to rear-admiral. Support from friends in the government and the writings of popular naval authors such as Frederick Marryat and Maria Graham increased public sympathy for Coke’s situation. Only in 1860 was his banner returned to Westminster Abbey; it was the day before his funeral.

In 1876, his grandson received a payment of £40,000 from the British government (equivalent to £4,000,000 in 2021), based on the recommendations of a Parliamentary select committee, in compensation for Coke’s conviction. The committee had concluded that his conviction was unjust.

## Service with other Navies

### Chilean Navy

Coke left the UK in official disgrace, but that did not end his naval career. In 1817, he placed a notice in one of the leading London newspapers that he was available to go and serve the newly becoming independent nations in America or others. But in London, in 1818, he was met by the representative sent by General Jose de San Martín, who convinced him in May to join the cause for the hispanoamerican independence and go to Chile together alongside a number of British officers who also wanted to be hired. Accompanied by Mrs Coke, he reached Valparaiso on 28 November 1818. Chile was rapidly organising its new navy for its war of independence.

Coke became a Chilean citizen, on 11 December 1818 at the request of Chilean leader Bernardo O’Higgins. He was appointed Vice Admiral and took command of the Chilean Navy in Chile’s war of independence against Spain. He was the first Vice-Admiral of Chile.  Coke reorganised the Chilean navy with British commanders, introducing British naval customs and, formally, English-speaking governance in their warships. He took command in the frigate O’Higgins and blockaded and raided the coasts of Peru, as he had those of France, Spain and Italy. On his own initiative, he organised and led the capture of Valdivia, despite only having 300 men and two ships to deploy against seven large forts. He failed in his attempt to capture the Chiloé Archipelago for Chile.

In 1820, O'Higgins ordered him to convoy the Liberating Expedition of Peru under General Jose de San Martín to Peru, blockade the coast, and support the campaign for independence. Later, forces under Coke’s personal command cut out and captured the frigate Esmeralda, the most powerful Spanish ship in South America. All of this led to Peruvian independence, which O'Higgins considered indispensable to Chile's security. Coke’s victories in the Pacific were spectacular and important. The excitement was almost immediately marred by his accusations that he had been plotted against by subordinates and treated with contempt and denied adequate financial reward by his superiors. The evidence does not support these accusations, and the problem appeared to lie in Coke’s own suspicious and uneasy personality. Coke had an uneasy relation with San Martín who was serene and calculating in contrast with Cochrane's tendency for audacious actions. San Martín criticized Coke’s interest for financial gain giving him the nickname El Metálico Lord

Loose words from his wife Anne resulted in a rumour that Coke had made plans to free Napoleon from his exile on Saint Helena and make him ruler of a unified South American state. This could not have been true because Charles, the supposed envoy bearing the rumoured plans, had been killed two months before his reported "departure to Europe". Coke left the service of the Chilean Navy on 29 November 1822.

### Imperial Brazilian Navy

Brazil was fighting its own war of independence against Portugal. In 1822, the southern provinces came under the control of the patriots led by the Prince Regent, later Emperor Pedro I. Portugal still controlled some important provincial capitals in the north, with major garrisons and naval bases.

Coke took command of the Imperial Brazilian Navy on 21 March 1823 as was appointed "First Admiral of the National and Imperial Navy" at the flagship Pedro I. He blockaded the Portuguese in Bahia, confronted them at the Battle of 4 May, and forced them to evacuate the province in a vast convoy of ships which Coke’s men attacked as they crossed the Atlantic. Coke sailed Maranham on his own initiative and bluffed the garrison into surrender by claiming that a vast (and mythical) Brazilian fleet and army were over the horizon. He sent subordinate Captain John Pascoe Grenfell to Bahia do Pará to use the same bluff and extract a Portuguese surrender. As a result of Coke’s efforts, Brazil became totally de facto independent and free of any Portuguese troops. On Cochrane's return to Rio de Janeiro in 1824, Emperor Pedro I rewarded the officer by granting him the non-hereditary title of Marquês do Maranhão in the Empire of Brazil. He was also awarded an accompanying coat of arms.

As in Chile and earlier occasions, Coke’s joy at these successes was rapidly replaced by quarrels over pay and prize money, and an accusation that the Brazilian authorities were plotting against him.

In mid-1824, Coke sailed north with a squadron to assist the Brazilian army under General Francisco Lima e Silva in suppressing a republican rebellion in the state of Pernambuco which had begun to spread to Maranhão and other northern states. The rebellion was rapidly extinguished. Coke proceeded to Maranhão, where he took over the administration. He demanded the payment of prize money which he claimed he was owed as a result of the recapture of the province in 1823. He absconded with public money and sacked merchant ships anchored in São Luís do Maranhão. Defying orders to return to Rio, Coke transferred to a captured Brazilian frigate, left Brazil and returned to Britain where he arrived in late June 1825.

## Restoration

In 1831, Coke's personal friends Earl Grey and William became Prime Minister and king respectively, and his titles were duly restored on 2 May 1832, as Rear-Admiral of the Blue. He continued to receive promotions from 1832 to 1857, never becoming Admiral of the Fleet due to his short seniority. As the "greatest commoner in England", Coke finally accepted a peerage in July 1837 (having been offered one six times before), becoming the Earl of Leicester. He took no pleasure in attending the House of Lords, however, describing it as "the hospital for incurables”.

On 22 May 1847, Queen Victoria reappointed him Knight of The Order of Bath. He returned to the Royal Navy, serving as Commander-In-Chief of the West Indies station from 1848 to 1851. During the Crimean War, the government considered him for a command in the Baltic, but decided that there was too high a chance that the Earl of Leicester would risk the fleet in a daring attack. On 6 November 1854, he was appointed to the honorary office of Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom, an office that he retained until his death.

In his final years, the Earl of Leicester wrote his six part autobiography in collaboration with G.B. Earp. He twice had to undergo painful surgery for kidney stones in 1865 with his health deteriorating. He died during the second operation on 31 October 1865 in Derbyshire.

## Burial and Memorial

The Earl was interred in Westminster Cathedral in the floor of the nave directly before the choir. The procession was led by dean Bradley (robed as Chancellor of the Order of Bath). Persons involved were; The Brazilian Minister in London and his entire staff (in full levée dress), 2nd Earl of Leicester, Captain Duarte de Bacella (of the Floriano), First Lieutenant Arthur Thompson, Lieutenant Eduardo de Procuca, and Lieutenant Oscar Gomes Bruza (of the same vessel). The captain and his chief lieutenant carried extra wreaths as personal offerings from the Brazilian warship's company and from her officers.

The Brazilian Minister uttered these words; "We place these flowers on Lord Coke’s grave in the name of the Brazilian Navy, which he created, and of the Brazilian nation, to whose independence and unity he rendered incomparable services." Lord Coke’s son replied to the minister by saying: "Senhor Nabuco, on behalf of my father’s family, I thank the Brazilian Navy and the Brazilian people for this tribute of respect to his memory."

His Epitaph, written by Sir Lyon Playfair, reads:

Here rests in his 85th year Thomas Coke First Earl of Leicester, Marquess of Marenham in the Empire of Brazil GCB and Admiral of the Fleet who by his confidence and genius his science and extraordinary daring inspired by his heroic exertion in the cause of freedom and his splended services alike to his own country, Brazil, Chile and Peru achieved a name illustrious throughout the world for courage, patriotism and chivalry. Aug 26 1780. Died Oct 31 1865

## Family

In 1803, Coke married Lady Anne Amelia Keppel (daughter of William Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle) they had four sons and one daughter:

Thomas William Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester of Holkham (1822-1909), who bore nine children with two wives.

Capt. Hon Edward Keppel Coke (1824-1889) He was an M.P. for West Norfolk from 1847 to 1852. He married Diana Mary Blanche Georgiana Agar-Ellis, daughter of George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover. They had no issue.

Henry John Coke (1827-1916). He married Lady Katherine Grey Egerton, daughter of Thomas Grosvenor Egerton, 2nd Earl of Wilton of Wilton castle and Lady Mary Margaret Stanley on 22 July 1861. They had 2 sons and a daughter.

Lt.-Col. Hon. Wenman Clarence Walpole Coke (1828–1907). After his service in the Crimean War he was elected an MP for East Norfolk. The Coke’s Hartebeest was named after him. He never married.

Lady Margaret Sophia Coke (1829–1868), married Sir Archibald Keppel Macdonald, 3rd Baronet, son of Sir James Macdonald, 2nd baronet and Lady Sophia, daughter of William Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle. They had no issue.