Will of Richard Coke, rector of Eastnor, 1680

This is the will of Richard Coke, dated 29 March 1680, with a codicil added on 22 fFbruary 1682 and proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury on 9 May 1682.

Although not described as such in the will, he was the rector of Eastnor. He requested burial in the chancel, but as the church was almost entirely rebuilt in the mid-19th century and many of  the earlier monuments removed or damaged it is not possible to be sure that this happened. Richard Coke was the eldest son of George Coke, bishop of Hereford (d. 1646). He was also prebendary of Bullinghope and Chancellor of the diocese of Hereford. His wife Mary was the daughter of John Kayse, co. Gloucester. (Burke, A Genealogical and Herladic History of the Commoners of Great Britain, vol. 4, ‘Coke of Trusley, co. Derbyshire’, p. 273).

The cause is not nown, but he was certainly disliked by one of his parishioners. The will of Robert Higgins of Hillend refers to 'the lying lips and deceitful tongue of that proud perjured priest the present incumbent there'.