Coke, John, Sir, 1563-1644

Sir John Coke MP JP PC (5 March 1563 – 8 September 1644) was an English civil servant and naval administrator, described by one commentator as "the Samuel Pepys of his day". He was MP for various constituencies in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1629, and served as Secretary of State under Charles I, playing a key part in government during the eleven years of Personal Rule from 1629 to 1640. The younger son of a Derbyshire lawyer, Coke owed his career to the patronage of Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke and George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, both of whom valued his efficiency and capacity for hard work. This brought him to the attention of Charles I, who appointed him Secretary of State in 1625 with responsibility for implementing his domestic policy. The Royalist statesman Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon later wrote that he was "unadorn’d with any parts of vigour or quickness", but he retained this position until dismissed at the age of 77 in January 1640. When the First English Civil War began in August 1642, his eldest son John supported Parliament while his younger son Thomas joined the Royalists. Too old to take part and with his country house of Melbourne Hall occupied by a Parliamentarian garrison, Coke moved to Tottenham, where he died on 8 September 1644.