Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester KG PC (March 1641 2 May 1711) was an English statesman and writer. The second son of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon and his wife, Frances Aylesbury, Hyde was a near contemporary of King Charles II of England. 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. In 1665 he married Lady Henrietta Boyle (died 1687), daughter of Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington and Cork. When his father was impeached in 1667, Laurence joined his elder brother, Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, 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, with the future King James II, making her Duchess of York.