ROCHE, Etienne, Marquis de la, French colonist, born in Brittany in 1549 ; died in Paris in 1601. He had already attained fame as a general when he left Dieppe in 1598 with three ships, 120 emigrants, and a commission from Henry IV. to found establishments in New France and on the coast of North America, of which he was appointed governor and lieutenant-general. Roche, at the suggestion of his pilot, Guillaume Chedotel, left the emigrants in a barren island in the St. Lawrence river, where they remained seven years without succor, and returned to France, where his conduct was severely criticised. The Duke de Merceur, lieutenant of the king in the provinces of Brittany and Normandy, retained Roche a prisoner for one year, while Chedotel was tried by the parliament of Rouen, which condemned him to arm an expedition to bring back the emigrants; but he never did so. Roche endeavored to obtain supplies for his colony in Paris, but, failing in this attempt, died of chagrin and resentment. A narrative of his expedition was printed at the end of the " Voyages" of Champlain (q. v.), and reprinted by Marc Lescarbot (q. v.), and Charlevoix in his "Histoire de la Nouvelle France."