Lee, William, 1729-1778

Sir William Lee was born at Hartwell, Buckinghamshire, England, in 1688, the second son of Sir Thomas Lee of Hartwell, M.P. for Aylesbury. He was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1704, and soon after matriculated at Wadham College, Oxford, but did not take a degree. He was called to the bar in 1710, was appointed Latin secretary to King George I in 1718, and ten years later was named attorney-general to Frederick Prince of Wales. In 1727 he was elected to Parliament for Chipping Wycombe through his family's interest, and served until he was appointed a puisne justice of the King's Bench in 1730.

Lee married Anne Goodwin early in his career, and the couple had one son, William (d. 1778). Anne died in 1729, and in 1733 Lee married Margaret Drake Melmoth, a widow with a fortune of 25,000 pounds. In the same year, Lee's friend and colleague Lord Hardwicke was named Chief Justice. When Hardwicke was further promoted to Lord Chancellor in February 1737, he nominated Lee as his successor. Lee became Chief Justice on June 8th, and was also knighted that day as well.

Lee served as Chief Justice until his death, and was praised for his ability and impartiality as a judge. His court ruled that women who paid parish rates were entitled to vote in elections of parish officers. Lee presided at several of the treason trials of Jacobite rebels held by the special commission at Southwark in 1746. Among his rulings was R. v. Townley, which denied the defendant the right to be treated as a prisoner of war even though he held a commission in the service of the Pretender.

Lady Margaret Lee died in 1752; Sir William Lee died at his residence in Bloomsbury Square, London, after a stroke, on April 8, 1754. He was buried in the church at Hartwell, and left his fortune, including his manor at Totteridge, Hertfordshire, to his son William.

From the guide to the Sir William Lee family papers, 1588-1814, 1710-1754, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)