Thomas Coke
Vice-chamberlain Thomas Coke
Thomas Coke (pronounced Cook) was born at Melbourne in 1675,
son of Colonel John Coke Member of Parliament for Derby and his wife Mary, daughter
of Sir Thomas Leventhorpe. The Coke family had been in possession of Melbourne
Hall since 1628.
At the age of 13 in 1688, Thomas was sent to be educated in
Rotterdam. He returned to England and graduated from New College, Oxford in 1693.
In 1898 he married Lady Mary Stanhope, daughter of Phillip,
Earl of Chesterfield who lived at Bretby, 6 miles away from Melbourne.
It was Thomas who created the formal gardens at Melbourne
Hall having first obtained the freehold from the Bishop of Carlisle. He was
well known in London for being a “man about town”.
Thomas and Mary had 2 daughters but then Mary sadly died in 1704. Thomas's 2 unmarried sisters looked after the children at Melbourne while the garden was taking shape with Lead Statues by John Nost and the "Birdcage" metal arbour created by Robert Bakewell.
Thomas became Vice-Chamberlain to Queen Anne's Household in 1706, an important position. He got married again in 1709 to Mary Hale, daughter of William Hale of Kings Walden. Mary had 2 daughters and a son, George Lewis in 1715 (see George Coke).
Thomas died a wealthy man in 1727, at the age of 52.