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, 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 contracted his daughter,
Charlotte Lee (pictured), to Edward Lee when she was ten and he was eleven, and the two married at the ages of thirteen and fourteen in 1677 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 which 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 From 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 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
Coldstream Guards. He died unmarried. • James Lee (13 November 1682 – 1711) became a captain in the Royal Navy and married Sarah, daughter of John Bagshaw, but the marriage stayed childless. • Francis Lee (14 February 1685) • Anne Lee (29 June 1686 – d. 1716?), married N Morgan • Charles Lee (5 June 1688 – 3 January 1708). Died unmarried. •
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 ==