Anthony Louis Lovel Coke, 6th Earl of Leicester, of Holkham Hall

Holkham Hall

Holkham Hall is an eighteenth-century country house located adjacent to the village of Holkham, on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk...

, Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 (11 September 1909–19 June 1994) was a British peer.

Background

Coke, pronounced Cook was the son of the Hon. Arthur George Coke, killed in action in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, 1915, second son of Thomas Coke, 3rd Earl of Leicester

Thomas Coke, 3rd Earl of Leicester

Thomas William Coke, 3rd Earl of Leicester GCVO, CMG, TD , known as Viscount Coke until 1909, was a British peer and soldier....

, and of Phyllis Hermione, daughter of Francis Saxham Elwes Drury. He was educated at Gresham's School

Gresham's School

Gresham’s School is an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England, a member of the HMC.The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free grammar school for forty boys, following King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Augustinian priory at Beeston Regis...

, Holt

Holt, Norfolk

Holt is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town is on the route of the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road. The nearest railway station is in the town of Sheringham where access to the...

.

Career

During the Second World War, Coke served in the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

. After the war, he became a rancher in Africa before succeeding his cousin as Earl of Leicester

Earl of Leicester

The title Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century in the Peerage of England , and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837.-Early creations:...

 in 1976.

Family

He married firstly, in 1934, Moyra Joan, daughter of Douglas Crossley, and with her had two sons and one daughter (divorced, 1947); secondly, in Rhodesia

Rhodesia

Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...

 in 1947, Vera Haigh (died 1984); thirdly, in 1985, Elizabeth Hope Johnstone, daughter of Clifford Arthur Johnstone, of Addo

Addo

-People:*Eric Addo , Ghanaian footballer*Joe Addo , Ghanaian footballer*Otto Addo , Ghanaian footballer*Ransford Addo , Ghanaian footballer*Simon Addo , Ghanaian footballer...

, Eastern Province

Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

.

He was succeeded by his son Edward Coke, 7th Earl of Leicester

Edward Coke, 7th Earl of Leicester

Edward Douglas Coke, 7th Earl of Leicester CBE DL of Holkham Hall, Norfolk, England, is a British peer.He is the son of Anthony Louis Lovel Coke, 6th Earl of Leicester and Moyra Joan Crossley. He married, firstly, Valerie Potter, daughter of Leonard A. Potter, on 28 April 1962. He and Valerie...

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