Richard Napoleon Lee (1833 – 28 May 1876) was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er active in first-class cricket in 1852. The illegitimate son of Richard Thornton and his housekeeper Alice Lee, he was born at

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The well after which it was named was redisco ...

, Middlesex, in 1833. He attended

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

, where he studied law. Lee made what would be his only appearance in first-class cricket in 1852, when he played for the Surrey Club against the Marylebone Cricket Club at The Oval. He was a barrister at the Middle Temple by 1861. Lee later moved to

Sidmouth, Devon Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 12,569 in 2011, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town has ...

, where he was appointed the Income Tax Commissioner for Devon. He died at Sidmouth on 28 May 1876, having changed his name to Richard Napoleon Thornton in 1865 as a condition laid down in his father's will.'' The London Gazette'', 4 August 1865, quoted a
Family of Richard Napoleon (Lee) Thornton and Margaret James
Attfield Family Tree. Retrieved 2018-12-05. At some point he married Margaret James, who predeceased him. The couple had four children, with their three sons

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

, Albert and

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

all playing first-class cricket.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Richard 1833 births 1876 deaths People from Clerkenwell Sportspeople from the London Borough of Islington Alumni of St John's College, Oxford English cricketers Surrey Club cricketers Members of the Middle Temple English barristers 19th-century English lawyers