Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, KB (1697–1759) was a wealthy English land-owner and patron of the arts. He is particularly noted for commissioning the design and construction of Holkham Hall in north Norfolk. Between 1722 and 1728, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Norfolk. Badge of a Companion of the Order of the Bath (Military Division) Ribbon of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (formerly The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath)[1] is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on May 18, 1725. ... Events September 11 - Battle of Zenta, Prince Eugene of Savoy crushed Ottoman army of Mustafa II September 20 - The Treaty of Ryswick December 2 – St Pauls Cathedral opened in London Peter the Great travels in Europe officially incognito as artilleryman Pjotr Mikhailov Use of palanquins increases in Europe Christopher... 1759 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Holkham Hall. ... Norfolk (IPA: //) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ...

He was the son of Edward Coke (Coke is pronounced like the surname "Cook") and Carey Newton. As a young man, Coke embarked on a six-year 'Grand Tour', returning to England in the spring of 1718. During his time overseas in Rome in 1715, he made the acquaintance of Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, the aristocratic architect at the forefront of the Palladian revival movement in England, and of William Kent. Both were later to be engaged by Coke to work on his mansion at Holkham which housed the considerable collection of works of art that Coke had accumulated on his travels. The interior of the Pantheon in the 18th century, painted by Giovanni Paolo Panini In the 18th century, the Grand Tour was a kind of education for wealthy British noblemen, wherein the primary educational value was exposure to the cultured artifacts of antiquity and the Renaissance as well as the... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5... Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork (April 25, 1694 – 1753) , born in Yorkshire, was a descendant of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork. ... For other uses, see Architect (disambiguation). ... A villa with a superimposed portico, from Book IV of Palladios I Quattro Libri dellArchitettura, in a modestly priced English translation published in London, 1736. ... William Kent William Kent (born in Bridlington, Yorkshire, c. ... Holkham is a civil parish in the north-west of the county of Norfolk, England, comprising a small village, a major stately home and estate, and an attractive beach. ...

However, Coke was badly affected by financial losses when his investments in The South Sea Company proved worthless. This delayed the building of Coke's planned new country estate for over ten years. It was not until around 1732 that Burlington and Kent made their first drawings for the new mansion. Norfolk architect Matthew Brettingham was also influential in its design (though he attributed the design of the Marble Hall to Coke himself). Work on the foundations began in 1734, but it was to be 30 years before work was completed. Hogarthian image of the South Sea Bubble, by Edward Matthew Ward, Tate Gallery The South Sea Company (1711 – c1850s) was an English company granted a monopoly to trade with South America under a treaty with Spain. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Holkham Hall. ...

Coke, who had been created Earl of Leicester in 1744, died in 1759, five years before the completion of Holkham, having never fully recovered his financial losses. Thomas had been predeceased by his only son, the rake Edward Coke, Viscount Coke (whose marriage to Mary Campbell proved disastrous and childless). Therefore Holkham was inherited by Thomas's nephew Wenman Coke, who died in 1776 and was succeeded by his son Thomas William Coke, later 1st Earl of Leicester of Holkham. The Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century as a title in the Peerage of England (title now extinct), and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837. ... Thomas William Coke (6 May 1754-30 June 1842) was the celebrated Coke of Norfolk who, between 1776 and 1842, greatly improved his Holkham estate which became famous for its advanced methods of animal husbandry. ... The Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century as a title in the Peerage of England (title now extinct), and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837. ...