Robert Lee, 4th Earl of Lichfield

Hunting scene by John Wootton (1744), with Robert Lee on the left holding the gun, George Lee, 3rd Earl of Lichfield his nephew mounted in the centre

Robert Lee, 4th Earl of Lichfield (3 July 1706 3 November 1776) was an English politician and peer.

Life

An uncle of the 3rd Earl, George Henry Lee II, he was a son of Edward Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield and his wife Charlotte Fitzroy, an illegitimate daughter of Charles II. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford from 1754 to 1768, and considered a Tory.[1]

Lee held the sinecure position of Custos Brevium of the Court of Common Pleas, in the royal gift. He died while hunting.[2]

Family, and end of the line

In January 1748, Lee married Catherine Stonhouse (b. before 1730 8 March 1784), daughter of Sir John Stonhouse, 3rd Baronet, of Radley, co. Berks.[3] The marriage was childless. Lee who died in 1776 was thus the last in the 2nd Creation Earl of Lichfield; the estate and title eventually reverted to his niece Lady Charlotte Lee, eldest surviving daughter of his brother, George Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield.

In 1744 Charlotte had married Viscount Dillon. Their son Charles Dillon, 12th Viscount Dillon inherited the estate of Ditchley but not the title of Earl of Lichfield. Ditchley remained the home of the Viscounts Dillon until 1934.

Fresh creation

The title was created for a third time when Thomas Anson was created Earl of Lichfield in the 1831 coronation honors of William IV.

See also

References

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
The Viscount Wenman
Thomas Rowney
Member of Parliament for Oxford
1754 1768
With: Thomas Rowney to 1759
Sir Thomas Stapleton, Bt 1759–68
Succeeded by
George Nares
Hon. William Harcourt
Peerage of England
Preceded by
George Lee
Earl of Lichfield
1772–1776
Succeeded by
Extinct
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