Laurence Hyde 1642-1711

Laurence HYDE, 1st Earl of Rochester 1642-1711

Bookplate of Laurence Hyde, Earl of Rochester (BM Franks Collection *106)

Biographical Note

2nd son of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609-1674) and brother of Anne Hyde, Duchess of York and wife of James II. MP for Newport in 1660, Oxford University in 1661 and Wootton Bassett in 1679. Made Master of the Robes in 1662 and appointed ambassador-extraordinary to the king of Poland in 1676. Made Viscount Hyde of Kenilworth in 1681 and Earl of Rochester in 1682. After James' accession he became lord treasurer and was made a knight of the garter in 1685. He was dismissed from the treasurership in 1687 but made lord lieutenant of Hertfordshire later that year. Although he initially opposed the 1688 revolution, he took the oaths and was readmitted to the privy council in 1692. Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1700 until his dismissal from office in 1703.

Characteristic Markings

Used an engraved armorial bookplate.

Sources

• Gambier Howe, E. R. J. Franks bequest: catalogue of British and American book plates bequeathed to the ... British Museum. London, 1903.*106.
• Speck, W. A. "Hyde, Laurence, first earl of Rochester (bap. 1642, d. 1711), politician." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.