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Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Rochester
KG PC
Laurence Hyde, Earl of Rochester.jpg
Laurence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, by Willem Wissing (c. 1685–1687).
First Lord of the Treasury
In office
1679–1684
Monarch Charles II
Preceded by The Earl of Essex
Succeeded by The Lord Godolphin
Lord President of the Council
In office
24 August 1684 – 18 February 1685
Monarch Charles II
James II
Preceded by The Earl of Radnor
Succeeded by The Marquess of Halifax
In office
21 September 1710 – 13 June 1711
Monarch Anne
Preceded by Lord Somers
Succeeded by The Duke of Buckingham and Normanby
Lord High Treasurer
In office
1685–1686
Monarch James II
Preceded by
Succeeded by
The Lord Belasyse
as Lord High Treasurer Commission
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
In office
1700–1703
Monarch William III
Anne
Preceded by Lords Justices
Succeeded by The Duke of Ormonde
Personal details
Born March 1642
England
Died 2 May 1711
London, England
Resting place Westminster Abbey
Political party Tory
Children Henry Hyde, Anne Hyde, Mary Hyde, Henrietta Hyde
Religion Anglican

Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester KG PC (March 1642 – 2 May 1711) was an English statesman and writer. He was originally a supporter of James II but later supported the Glorious Revolution in 1688. He held high office under Queen Anne, who was his sister's daughter, but their frequent disagreements limited his influence.

The second son of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon and his second wife, Frances Aylesbury, Hyde was a near contemporary of King Charles II of England. He was baptized at St Margaret's, Westminster on 15 March 1642.

Following the Restoration, he sat as member of parliament, first for Newport, Cornwall and later for the University of Oxford, from 1660 to 1679.

In 1661, he was sent on a complimentary embassy to Louis XIV of France, while he held the court post of Master of the Robes from 1662 to 1675.

Having returned to England, he entered the new parliament, which met early in 1679, as member for Wootton Bassett; in November 1679 he was appointed First Lord of the Treasury, and for a few years he was the principal adviser of Charles II. Hyde was an opponent of the Exclusion Bill that would have prevented James, Duke of York from acceding to the throne.

He was created Earl of Rochester, Viscount Hyde of Kenilworth, and Baron Wotton Basset on 29 November 1682. Compelled to join in arranging the treaty of 1681, by which Louis XIV agreed to pay a subsidy to Charles, he was simultaneously imploring William, Prince of Orange, to save Europe from the ambitions of the French monarch.


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