LEE, Sir Thomas, 3rd Bt. (1687-1749), of Hartwell, Bucks.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715, ed. D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley, 2002
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1710 - 1722
1722 - 1727
29 Jan. 1729 - 1741

Family and Education

b. 31 Mar. 1687, 1st s. of Thomas Lee*, bro. of George†, John† and William Lee†.  m. 13 Sept. 1720, Elizabeth (d. 1728), da. and h. of Thomas Sandys, citizen of London, 2s. (1 d.v.p.) 1da. d.v.psuc. fa. as 3rd Bt. Aug. 1702.1

Offices Held

Freeman, Chipping Wycombe 1710, Woodstock 1713.2

Biography

A mere two years after attaining his majority, Lee was brought into Parliament, although not for his family’s traditional seat at Aylesbury. Instead he sat for Chipping Wycombe with the support of Lord Wharton (Hon. Thomas*). No doubt his election as a new Member returned amid the Tory deluge of 1710 accounts for his being placed in the ‘doubtful’ category in the ‘Hanover list’, and for the appearance of his name on a list of ‘worthy patriots’ who helped to detect the mismanagements of the previous administration. However, it soon became clear that he adhered to the family tradition in politics. In the second session he voted for the ‘No Peace without Spain’ motion on 7 Dec. 1711. In the 1713 session he was listed as a Whig who voted on 18 June 1713 against the French commerce bill. Re-elected in 1713 he voted against the expulsion of Richard Steele on 18 Mar. 1714, and acted as teller on 23 June against agreeing to the Lords’ amendment to the schism bill. He was also classed as a Whig in the Worsley list, and on another list comparing the 1713 Parliament with that elected in 1715. After the Hanoverian succession Lee continued to sit as a Whig, mostly in opposition, under George I and George II. He died on 17 Dec. 1749, and was buried at Hartwell.3

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Authors: Eveline Cruickshanks / Stuart Handley

Notes

  • 1. Lipscomb, Bucks. ii. 308; The Gen. n.s. viii. 13.
  • 2. First Ledger Bk. of Chipping Wycombe ed. Greaves (Bucks. Rec. Soc. xi), 268; BL, Verney mss mic. 636/55, Ld. Fermanagh (John Verney*) to Ralph Verney†, 6 Aug. 1713.
  • 3. Recs. of Bucks. viii. 387.