Edward Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield
Edward Henry Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield (4 February 1663 – 14 July 1716) was an English peer, the son of a baronet, who at 14 years of age married one of the illegitimate daughters of King Charles II, Charlotte Lee, prior to which he was made Earl of Lichfield. They had a large family; Lady Lichfield bore him 18 children. He was a staunch Tory[1] and followed James II to Rochester, Kent after the king's escape from Whitehall in December 1688.[2] His subsidiary titles were Viscount Quarendon and Baron Spelsbury.
The Earl of Lichfield | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by Godfrey Kneller | |
| Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire | |
| In office 1687–1689 | |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Abingdon |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Abingdon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 February 1663 |
| Died | 14 July 1716 (aged 53) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Charlotte Lee, Lady Baltimore Charles Lee, Viscount Quarendon Edward Lee, Viscount Quarendon Captain Hon. James Lee Hon. Francis Lee Lady Anne Morgan Hon. Charles Lee George Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield Hon. Francis Henry Fitzroy Lee Lady Elizabeth Young Barbara Browne, Lady Browne Lady Mary Lee Hon. Fitzroy Lee Hon. FitzRoy Henry Lee Hon. William Lee Hon. Thomas Lee Hon. John Lee Robert Lee, 4th Earl of Lichfield |
Biography
editEarly life
editEdward Lee was the son of Sir Francis Henry Lee, 4th Baronet of Quarendon and his wife Lady Elizabeth Pope, daughter of Thomas Pope, 2nd Earl of Downe, who was later third wife of Robert Bertie, 3rd Earl of Lindsey. Through his mothers remarriage he gained two half-siblings Charles Bertie and Elizabeth. His great grandfather, Henry Lee, was the cousin and heir of Henry Lee of Ditchley. His father's half-brother was the libertine-poet the Earl of Rochester who took a great interest in his young relative and helped to bring about his betrothal to the daughter of the king.
In his youth, he was considered to be kind, charming, strong, intelligent as well as arrogant because of his position in the peerage and to his status as a royal son-in-law to the king.
Marriage
edit
Lee was created Earl of Lichfield in 1674 at the age of eleven, a result of his betrothal to the daughter of King Charles II. The Lady Charlotte Fitzroy was the fourth of six children born to the king's mistress, the Duchess of Cleveland. Sweet-natured and strikingly beautiful, Charlotte was adored by her father the king. She was contracted at the age of nine to Lee, who was sixteen months older than his bride-to-be. Nearly three years later, having reached puberty, the thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds were married on 6 February 1677.
His royal father in law funded a townhouse in London for Lichfield and his wife,to be built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1677,named Lichfield House, it was adjoined by another home wich is today known as 10 Downing Street.)
In 1681,his cousin the only son of the Earl of Rochester (who had died in 1680) passed away and subsequently Lee inherited Adderbury Manor from him.
Public service
editFrom 1687 to 1689, Lichfield served as Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire. He commanded Lichfield's Regiment, an infantry regiment in the English Army until his dismissal for Jacobite sympathies following the Glorious Revolution and for refusing to swearing an oath of loyalty to Queen Anne and William III. He later played prominent part in the Williamite War in Ireland (1689–1691), going through a succession of new Colonels including Henry Wharton and Richard Brewer.
Family and children
editLady Lichfield bore him at least eighteen children:
- Charlotte Lee, Lady Baltimore (13 March 1678 (Old Style) – 22 January 1721),
- (1) Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore, by whom she had six children.
- (2) Christopher Crowe, Consul of Leghorn, by whom she had four children.
- Charles Lee, Viscount Quarendon (6 May 1680 – 13 October 1680).
- Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Henry Lee, Viscount Quarendon (6 June 1681 – 21 October 1713), a captain in the Colstream Guards
- Captain Hon. James Lee (13 November 1682 – 1711).
- Francis Lee (14 February 1685)
- Anne Lee (29 June 1686 – d. 1716?), married N Morgan[3]
- Charles Lee (5 June 1688 – 3 January 1708).
- George Henry Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield (12 March 1690 – 15 February 1743).
- Francis Henry Fitzroy Lee (10 September 1692 – died 1730).
- Elizabeth Lee (26 May 1693 – 29 January 1741). Married:
- (1) Francis Lee, a cousin. Had one son and two daughters, the eldest of whom, Elisabeth (d. 1736 at Lyon) married Henry Temple, son of the 1st Viscount Palmerston.
- (2) Edward Young, in 1731, author of the Night Thoughts, by whom she had one son. It is said that he never recovered from Elizabeth's death.
- Barbara Lee (3 March 1695 – d. aft. 1729), married Sir George Browne, 3rd Baronet of Kiddington.
- Mary Isabella Lee (6 September 1697 – 28 December 1697).
- Fitzroy Lee (10 May 1698 – died young).
- Vice Admiral FitzRoy Henry Lee (2 January 1700 – April 1751), Commodore Governor of Newfoundland.
- William Lee (24 June 1701 – died young).
- Thomas Lee (25 August 1703 – died young).
- John Lee (3 December 1704 – died young).
- Robert Lee, 4th Earl of Lichfield (3 July 1706 – 3 November 1776).
Reign of Charles II
editAfter the death of his uncle Rochester, Lee succeeded him as gentleman of the bedchamber.
Reign of James II
editJames made Lee a gentleman of the bedchamber and his Master of the Horse.
The Glorious Revolution
editWhen James was forced into exile in 1688, Lee accompanied him into exile and he and his wife continued to loyal supporters of him.
Reign of William II and Anne I
editSince Lee was a non-juror (ie refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to Queen Anne and William he was regarded with suspicion by them. In 1696 after assassination plans on William was discovered Lee was reported as being in house arrest or taken into custody.[4]
Death and legacy
editLichfield died two years before his wife, on 14 July 1716, aged 53 and was buried in Spelsbury church. Two years later his wife Charlotte died and was buried beside her husband.
On their funeral monument the inscription reads;
“at their marriage they were the most grateful bridegroom and the most beautiful bride and that till death they remained the most constant husband and wife.”
Ancestry
edit| Edward Henry Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield | Father: Sir Francis Henry Lee of Ditchley, 4th Baronet of Quarendon |
Paternal Grandfather: Sir Francis Henry Lee of Ditchley and of Quarendon |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley, 1st Baronet of Quarendon |
| Paternal Great-grandmother: Eleanor Wortley of Wortley | |||
| Paternal Grandmother: Anne St John, Countess of Rochester |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Sir John St John, 1st Baronet, of Lydiard Tregoze | ||
| Paternal Great-grandmother: Anne Leighton of Feckenham | |||
| Mother: Lady Elizabeth Pope |
Maternal Grandfather: Thomas Pope, 2nd Earl of Downe, Ireland |
Maternal Great-grandfather: Sir William Pope, Knight (1596–1624) | |
| Maternal Great-grandmother: Elizabeth Watson of Halstead | |||
| Maternal Grandmother: Lucy Dutton |
Maternal Great-grandfather: John Dutton of Sherborne | ||
| Maternal Great-grandmother: Elizabeth Baynton of Wilts |
References
edit- ^ Aston, Nigel (19 September 2023). Enlightened Oxford: The University and the Cultural and Political Life of Eighteenth-Century Britain and Beyond. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-887288-7.
- ^ K. Laughton, 'Lee, Fitzroy Henry (1699–1750)’, rev. Philip Carter, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
- ^ She was living on 11 November 1714, when King George I paid a bounty of £100 to Lady Anne Morgan: Journals of the House of Commons, Volume 18 (House of Commons, 1803), p. 111; and in June 1716, when she received another £200: Calendar of Treasury Books: Jan.-Dec. 1716, p. ccviii
- ^ Whyman, Susan E. (1999). Sociability and Power in Late-Stuart England: The Cultural Worlds of the Verneys, 1660-1720. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-925023-3.