Edward Henry Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield (4 February 1663 – 14 July 1716) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
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
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
and followed
James II to
Rochester, Kent
Rochester ( ) is a town in the unitary authority of Medway, in Kent, England. It is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway, about from London. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rainham, Strood and Gillin ...
after the king's
escape from Whitehall in December 1688. His subsidiary titles were Viscount Quarendon and Baron Spelsbury.
Biography
Early life
Edward 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
Thomas Pope, 2nd Earl of Downe (1622–1660) was an English nobleman and Royalist.
Life
Baptised at Cogges, near Witney, 16 December 1622, the eldest of the three sons of Sir William Pope, Knt. (1596–1624), by Elizabeth, sole heiress of Sir Tho ...
, who was later third wife of
Robert Bertie, 3rd Earl of Lindsey
Robert Bertie, 3rd Earl of Lindsey PC FRS (8 November 1630 – 8 May 1701), styled Lord Willoughby de Eresby from 1642 to 1666, was an English nobleman.
He was the son of Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey and Martha Cokayne. He travelled on ...
. His great grandfather, Henry Lee, was the cousin and heir of
Henry Lee of Ditchley
Sir Henry Lee KG (March 1533 – 12 February 1611), of Ditchley, was Queen's Champion and Master of the Armouries under Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Family
Henry Lee, born in Kent in March 1533, was the grandson of Sir Robert Lee (d.1539 ...
. His father's half-brother was the
libertine-poet the
Earl of Rochester
Earl of Rochester is a title that was created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1652 in favour of the Royalist soldier Henry Wilmot, 2nd Viscount Wilmot. He had already been created Baron Wilmot, of Adderbury in the Co ...
In his youth, he was considered to be kind, charming, strong, intelligent as well as arrogent because of his position in the peerage.
.
Marriage
![Charlotte Lee](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Charlotte_Lee.jpg)
Lee was created
Earl of Lichfield
Earl of Lichfield is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of England (1645 and 1674) and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1831). The third creation is extant and is held by a member of the Anson family.
Hi ...
in 1674 at the age of eleven, a result of his
betrothal
An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...
to the daughter of King
Charles II. The Lady
Charlotte Fitzroy was the fourth of six children born to the king's
mistress
Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to:
Romance and relationships
* Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...
, 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
Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. ...
, the thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds were married on 6 February 1677.
Public service
From 1687 to 1689, Lichfield served as
Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire. Since 1689, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Oxfordshire.
Deputy lieutenants
A deputy lieutenant of Oxfordshire is commissioned by the Lord Lie ...
. He commanded
Lichfield's Regiment, an infantry regiment in the
until his dismissal for
Jacobite sympathies following the
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...
. It later played prominent part in the
Williamite War in Ireland
The Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691; ga, Cogadh an Dá Rí, "war of the two kings"), was a conflict between Jacobite supporters of deposed monarch James II and Williamite supporters of his successor, William III. It is also called th ...
(1689–1691), going through a succession of new Colonels including
Henry Wharton
Henry Wharton (9 November 1664 – 5 March 1695) was an English writer and librarian.
Life
Wharton was descended from Thomas, 2nd Baron Wharton (1520–1572), being a son of the Rev. Edmund Wharton, vicar of Worstead, Norfolk. Born at Worstead ...
and
Richard Brewer.
Family and children
Lady 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 – died young).
* Anne Lee (29 June 1686 – d. 1716?), married N Morgan
[She was living on 11 November 1714, when King George I paid a ]bounty
Bounty or bounties commonly refers to:
* Bounty (reward), an amount of money or other reward offered by an organization for a specific task done with a person or thing
Bounty or bounties may also refer to:
Geography
* Bounty, Saskatchewan, a g ...
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
* 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 young).
* Elizabeth Lee (26 May 1693 – 29 January 1739). Married:
** (1) Francis Lee, a cousin. Had one son and two daughters, the eldest of whom, Elisabeth (d. 1736 at
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
) married Henry Temple, son of the
1st Viscount Palmerston.
** (2)
Edward Young
Edward Young (c. 3 July 1683 – 5 April 1765) was an English poet, best remembered for ''Night-Thoughts'', a series of philosophical writings in blank verse, reflecting his state of mind following several bereavements. It was one of the mos ...
, in 1731, author of the ''
Night Thoughts
''The Complaint: or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality'', better known simply as ''Night-Thoughts'', is a long poem by Edward Young published in nine parts (or "nights") between 1742 and 1745. It was illustrated with notable engrav ...
'', 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
Robert Lee, 4th Earl of Lichfield (1706–1776) was an English politician and peer, the last of the Earls of Lichfield.
Birth and origins
Robert was born on 3 July 1706 in St. James Street, Westminster, London. He was one of the ten ch ...
(3 July 1706 – 3 November 1776).
Death and legacy
Lichfield died two years before his wife, on 14 July 1716, aged 53.
Ancestry
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lichfield, Edward Lee, 1st Earl of
1663 births
1716 deaths
1st Earl of Lichfield
Grenadier Guards officers
Suffolk Regiment officers
Lord-Lieutenants of Oxfordshire
British colonels