French Laurence (3 April 1757 – 27 February 1809)[1] was an English jurist and man of letters, a close associate of Edmund Burke whose literary executor he became.

He was the eldest son of Richard Laurence, watchmaker, of Bath, Somerset by Elizabeth, daughter of John French, clothier, of Warminster, Wiltshire, and was born on 3 April 1757.

On leaving the university he took chambers at the Middle Temple with the view of being called to the common-law bar, but eventually devoted himself to civil law, and having taken the degree of D.C.L.

Having made himself useful to Burke in preparing the preliminary case against Warren Hastings, he was retained as counsel in 1788 by the managers of the impeachment, together with William Scott, for colleague.

In 1796 he was appointed, through the interest of the Duke of Portland, regius professor of civil law at Oxford, in succession to Thomas Francis Wenman, and the same year, through the influence of Burke with Earl Fitzwilliam, entered parliament as member for Peterborough.

While pursuing his legal studies he wrote political ballads in aid of Charles James Fox's candidature for Westminster in 1784, and contributed to the Rolliad the advertisements and dedication, Criticisms iii.

His Poetical Remains, published with those of his brother Richard (Dublin, 1872), include some odes, and a few sonnets and some translations from the Greek, Latin, and Italian.