Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester
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Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, (March 1642 – 2 May 1711) was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
statesman and writer. He was originally a supporter of James II but later supported the
Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...
in 1688. He held high office under Queen Anne, daughter of his sister
Anne Hyde Anne Hyde (12 March 163731 March 1671) was Duchess of York and Albany as the first wife of James, Duke of York, who later became King James II and VII. Anne was the daughter of a member of the English gentry – Edward Hyde (later created ...
, but their frequent disagreements limited his influence.


Early life

Hyde was the second son of
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (18 February 16099 December 1674), was an English statesman, lawyer, diplomat and historian who served as chief advisor to Charles I during the First English Civil War, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II from ...
, and his second wife, Frances Aylesbury. He was baptized at
St Margaret's, Westminster The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey, is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster a ...
, on 15 March 1642.. He was admitted to the
Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...
on 30 May 1660, but was not
called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
. Following the
Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...
, he sat as member of parliament, first for
Newport, Cornwall Newport ( kw, Porthnowyth) is a suburb of the town of Launceston in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Originally a separate settlement, Newport is immediately north of the town from which it is separated by the River Kensey. Until the early ...
, and later for the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
, from 1660 to 1679. In 1661, he was sent on a complimentary embassy to
Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...
, while he held the court post of Master of the Robes from 1662 to 1675.


Early career

Having returned to England, he entered the new parliament, which met early in 1679, as member for
Wootton Bassett Royal Wootton Bassett , formerly Wootton Bassett, is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 11,043 in 2001, increasing to 11,385 in 2011. Situated in the north of the county, it lies to the west of the major ...
; in November 1679 he was appointed
First Lord of the Treasury The first lord of the Treasury is the head of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer in the United Kingdom, and is by convention also the prime minister. This office is not equivalent to the ...
, and for a few years, he was the principal adviser of Charles II. Hyde was an opponent of the
Exclusion Bill The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1679 until 1681 in the reign of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. Three Exclusion bills sought to exclude the King's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the thrones of England, Sco ...
that would have prevented
James, Duke of York James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
, from acceding to the throne. He was created
Earl of Rochester Earl of Rochester is a title that was created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1652 in favour of the Royalist soldier Henry Wilmot, 2nd Viscount Wilmot. He had already been created Baron Wilmot, of Adderbury in the Co ...
, 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 William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
,
Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands. The title ...
, to save Europe from the ambitions of the French monarch. Rochester's enemy
Lord Halifax Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 19 ...
called for an inquiry into Rochester's stewardship of the finances and it was found that £40,000 had been lost by mismanagement. As a consequence, Rochester was, in August 1684, removed from office and given the post
Lord President of the Council The lord president of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the ...
, a more dignified but less lucrative and important office. Halifax said: "I have seen people kicked down stairs but my Lord Rochester is the first person that I ever saw kicked up stairs".


Reign of James II

Although appointed
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...
, Rochester did not take up this position; he was still President of the Council when James II became king in February 1685, and he was at once appointed to the important office of
Lord Treasurer The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State i ...
but in spite of their family relationship and their long friendship, James and his Treasurer did not agree. The king wished to surround himself with
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
advisers; the Earl, on the other hand, looked with alarm at his master's leanings to that form of faith. In 1686, James tried to convert Rochester to Catholicism; every audience Rochester had with the king was spent in arguments over the authority of the Church and the worship of images. Rochester had interviews with Catholic divines in order to appear open-minded but he refused to convert. The king agreed to a conference between Catholic and Protestant divines in a formal disputation. James allowed Rochester to choose any Anglican ministers except
John Tillotson John Tillotson (October 1630 – 22 November 1694) was the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury from 1691 to 1694. Curate and rector Tillotson was the son of a Puritan clothier at Haughend, Sowerby, Yorkshire. Little is known of his early youth ...
and
Edward Stillingfleet Edward Stillingfleet (17 April 1635 – 27 March 1699) was a British Christian theologian and scholar. Considered an outstanding preacher as well as a strong polemical writer defending Anglicanism, Stillingfleet was known as "the beauty of holin ...
. Rochester chose two chaplains who happened to be in waiting,
Simon Patrick Simon Patrick (8 September 1626 – 31 May 1707) was an English theologian and bishop. Life He was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, eldest son of Henry Patrick, a wealthy merchant, on 8 September 1626, and attended Boston Gramma ...
and
William Jane William Jane (1645–1707) was an English academic and clergyman, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford from 1680. Life The son of Joseph Jane, he was born at Liskeard, Cornwall, where he was baptised on 22 October 1645. He was educated at Westm ...
. The conference was held in secret on 30 November at
Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...
and the divines discussed the
real presence The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is the Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist, not merely symbolically or metaphorically, but in a true, real and substantial way. There are a number of Christian denominati ...
, with the Catholics taking on the burden of proof. Patrick and Jane said little, with Rochester defending the Anglican position. At one point Rochester lost his temper and angrily asked whether it was expected that he would convert on so frivolous grounds. He then composed himself, knowing how much he was risking, and complimented the divines and requested that he be given time to digest what was said. James knew now that Rochester did not intend to be convinced. News of the conference leaked and Tory churchmen were shocked that Rochester might have wavered in his faith. Rochester requested another conference and James consented. Rochester let it be known to influential Catholics at court that he would do everything they requested (except convert) so long as he remained in office. He told them that as a Protestant he would prove more useful to them than as a Catholic. However, on 17 December James called Rochester into an audience and told him that so high an office of Lord Treasurer could not be held by a staunch Anglican under a Catholic monarch. James asked him to think again about his refusal to convert, but Rochester would not; and on 4 January 1687, he was dismissed. However, he received a pension of approximately £4000 per annum and £40,000 and estates from a convicted traitor. In October 1687, James asked the Lord Lieutenants to provide three standard questions to all members of the Commission of the Peace: would they consent to the repeal of the
Test Act The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and nonconformists. The underlying principle was that only people taking communion in t ...
and the penal laws; would they assist candidates who would do so; and would they accept the
Declaration of Indulgence The Declaration of Indulgence, also called Declaration for Liberty of Conscience, was a pair of proclamations made by James II of England and Ireland and VII of Scotland in 1687. The Indulgence was first issued for Scotland on 12 February and t ...
. As
Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire This is an incomplete list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire. From 1660 the office holder was also Custos Rotulorum of Hertfordshire. * William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton 1553 – * Sir Ralph Sadleir 1570–? *He ...
, Rochester eagerly pursued this, but was told by the county squires that they would send no man to Parliament who would vote away the safeguards of the Protestant religion.


Glorious Revolution

On 5 November 1688, William, Prince of Orange, landed at
Torbay Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...
. Rochester was a leading voice for the calling of a free and legal Parliament and that negotiations should be opened with William. James replied to this petition that he wished for a free Parliament but would only call one after William had left England, declaring that so as long as he was present a free Parliament was impossible as William could command nearly one hundred votes. At the council of Lords held by James, Rochester defended the petition and declared that he saw no hope for king and country except through a Parliament. He added that negotiations should be opened with William. Rochester opposed the election of William and
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
as king and queen, raising his voice for the establishment of a regency on behalf of the exiled James. But he soon reconciled himself to the new order, perhaps because he could not retain his pension unless he took the oaths of allegiance. After this he was quickly in the royal favour and again a member of the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
. He advised the queen in ecclesiastical matters, and returned to his former position as the leader of the
High Church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
party. Rochester tried to mediate in the quarrel between Princess Anne and the King and Queen, but with little success. Anne, who could be a bitter enemy, thanked him for his expressions of goodwill but added sarcastically that she would have valued them much more if she thought that they had been sincere.


Later life

From December 1700 until February 1703 he was
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...
, although he did not spend much time in that country. The widespread belief that he would be a key advisor to his niece Queen Anne was quickly shown to be an illusion: they had never been close, and Anne was resentful of anyone who attempted to bully her. Rochester, whose great weakness as a politician was his uncontrollable temper, could never resist a quarrel, in which he would often say something quite unforgivable, and after a series of such quarrels, the Queen dismissed him from office early in 1703. The concluding years of his public life were mainly passed in championing the interests of the Church. In 1710 he was again made Lord President of the council, and in the final year of his life was generally seen as a mature and moderate statesman. He died on 2 May 1711 and was buried on 10 May 1711 at the foot of the steps leading up to the King Henry VII Chapel in
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
. On his death, he was succeeded by his only son, Henry (1672–1753), who in 1724 inherited the earldom of Clarendon. When Henry died without issue on 10 December 1753, all his titles became extinct.


Family

In 1665, he married Lady Henrietta Boyle (died 1687), daughter of
Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Burlington Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Burlington, 2nd Earl of Cork (20 October 1612 – 15 January 1698) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman who served as Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and was a Cavalier. Early life He was born at ''The College'' in Youghal in ...
and Cork and Lady Elizabeth Clifford. They had four children: *
Henry Hyde, 4th Earl of Clarendon Henry Hyde, 4th Earl of Clarendon and 2nd Earl of Rochester, PC (June 1672 – 10 December 1753), styled Lord Hyde from 1682 to 1711, was an English Army officer and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1692 u ...
(1672–1753) *Anne (died 1685), who married James, Earl of Ossory. In her will, she left property in White's Alley, Coleman Street,
Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...
, to be used to maintain her tomb and to benefit local widows and orphans. *Mary (died 1709), who married
Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Baron Conway Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Ragley, 1st Baron Conway of Killultagh, MP, PC (Ire) (28 May 1679 – 3 February 1731/1732), was a British politician, born Francis Seymour. Background Born Francis Seymour, he was the second s ...
*Henrietta (c.1677–1730), who married James Scott, Earl of Dalkeith. Laurence was an affectionate father: Anne, Countess of Ossory, was his favourite child, and her early death in 1685 following a
miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...
was a blow from which some thought he never fully recovered. Anne was noted for wit and charm, as was her younger sister Henrietta, Countess of Dalkeith.
John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's diary, or memo ...
called Henrietta "the wittiest of her sex"; other friends said that she retained the charm of youth even when she was well over fifty. When his father was impeached in 1667, Laurence joined his elder brother,
Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, PC (2 June 163831 October 1709) was an English aristocrat and politician. He held high office at the beginning of the reign of his brother-in-law, King James II. Early life He was the eldest son of Edward Hyd ...
, in defending him in Parliament, but the fall of Clarendon did not injuriously affect the fortunes of his sons. They were united with the royal family through the marriage of their sister,
Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
, with the future King James II, making her Duchess of York. In 1676, Laurence Hyde was sent as ambassador to
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
; he then travelled to
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, whence he proceeded to Nijmwegen to take part in the peace congress as one of the English representatives.


Literature

Laurence Hyde had some learning and a share of his father's literary genius. The main employment of his old age was the preparation for the press of his father's ''
History of the Rebellion ''The History of the Rebellion'' by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon and former advisor to Charles I and Charles II, is his account of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Originally published between 1702 and 1704 as ''The History of the Rebellion ...
'', to which he wrote a preface in which he expounded his Tory philosophy. The work was dedicated to his niece Queen
Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
: the Queen, whose poor eyesight made reading something of an ordeal, was not especially pleased, particularly since the preface could be interpreted as an attack on her own policies. She remarked drily that it was strange that a man who did not lack sense in other ways should be made ridiculous by his vanity.


Legacy

Thomas Macaulay Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was a British historian and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster-General between 1846 and 1 ...
in his ''
History of England England became inhabited more than 800,000 years ago, as the discovery of stone tools and footprints at Happisburgh in Norfolk have indicated.; "Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk" (2014). BBC News. Retrieved 7 February ...
'' said of Rochester:
He had excellent parts, which had been improved by parliamentary and diplomatic experience; but the infirmities of his temper detracted much from the effective strength of his abilities. Negotiator and courtier as he was, he never learnt the art of governing or of concealing his emotions. When prosperous, he was insolent and boastful; when he sustained a check, his undisguised mortification doubled the triumph of his enemies: very slight provocations sufficed to kindle his anger; and when he was angry he said bitter things which he forgot as soon as he was pacified, but which others remembered many years. His quickness and penetration would have made him a consummate man of business but for his selfsufficiency and impatience. His writings prove that he had many of the qualities of an orator: but his irritability prevented him from doing himself justice in debate: for nothing was easier than to goad him into a passion; and, from the moment when he went into a passion, he was at the mercy of opponents far inferior to him in capacity. Unlike most of the leading politicians of that generation, he was a consistent, dogged, and rancorous party man, a Cavalier of the old school, a zealous champion of the Crown and of the Church, and a hater of Republicans and Nonconformists. He had consequently a great body of personal adherents. The clergy especially looked on him as their own man, and extended to his foibles an indulgence of which, to say the truth, he stood in some need, for he drank deep, and when was in a rage—and he very often was in a rage—he swore like a porter..
In
John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...
's satire, ''
Absalom and Achitophel ''Absalom and Achitophel'' is a celebrated satirical poem by John Dryden, written in heroic couplets and first published in 1681. The poem tells the Biblical tale of the rebellion of Absalom against King David; in this context it is an all ...
'', he is "Hushai", the friend of
David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
in distress.


Notes


References

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Further reading

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rochester, Laurence Hyde, 3rd Earl Of 1642 births 1711 deaths Earls of Rochester Laurence Hyde, 3rd Earl of Rochester Garter Knights appointed by James II Lord High Treasurers Lord-Lieutenants of Cornwall Lord-Lieutenants of Hertfordshire Lord Presidents of the Council Members of the Privy Council of England Hyde, Laurence Hyde, Laurence Ambassadors of England to Poland English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1679 Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall 17th-century English diplomats Lords Lieutenant of Ireland Politicians from London Diplomats from London People who have lived in Richmond Park