Benjamin Lee (5 November 1825 – 15 July 1917) was an English-born Australian politician.

Early life

He was born at

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population estimate of 8,100 (Mid year estimate 2017 from the ONS). It is administered bAmpthill Town Council The ward of Ampthill which also i ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

to Benjamin Lee and Lucy Ann Poulton. His family migrated to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1829, and Lee was educated at

The King's School, Parramatta The King's School is an Education in Australia#Non-government schools, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, Pre-school education, early learning, primary school, primary and secondary school, secondary day and boarding school, boardi ...

. He assisted his father on the family properties and in 1857 established himself as a draper at

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

. On 21 July 1856 he married Sarah Amelia Stephens, with whom he had nine children, 8 daughters and a son. From 1861 to 1874 he was chairman of the Hunter River New Steam Navigation Company, and he was also a

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

and a police magistrate at Bathurst.

Political career

In 1864 he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

for

West Maitland Maitland () is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. It is on the New England ...

, following a bitter campaign between 3 local men with almost identical policies, notable for personal attacks, and fights between supporters at the declaration of the poll. The

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

described Lee as "normally even-tempered and moderate", however he was involved in the first physical fight in the Legislative Assembly on 27 February 1868.

Allan Macpherson Allan Macpherson (24 October 1818 – 6 November 1891) was a squatter, pastoralist and politician in the colony of New South Wales, a member of the Legislative Assembly. Early life Macpherson was born at Blairgowrie, Scotland. He went to ...

taunted Lee, to which Lee responded by punching Macpherson in the face whilst still in the house and Macpherson horsewhipping Lee after he had been ejected by the serjeant-at-arms. He held the seat at the 1869 election and again at 1872 election, serving until his resignation in 1874. He did not hold any ministerial office.

Later life

In 1875, he was a local mining warden, and in 1881 a coroner. In 1890 he was a stipendiary magistrate. Lee died at Annandale on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Benjamin 1825 births 1917 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly People educated at The King's School, Parramatta