George Lee, 3rd Earl of Lichfield

The Right Honourable The Earl of Lichfield PC
The 3rd Earl of Lichfield by George Huddesford
Member of Parliament (MP) for county of Oxford
In office 1740–1743
Ranger of Hampton Court Park
In office 1762–1762
Chancellor of the University of Oxford
In office 1762–1772
Personal details
Born	(1718-05-21)21 May 1718 Windsor Castle
Died	17 September 1772(1772-09-17) (aged 54)
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford

George Henry Lee II, 3rd Earl of Lichfield PC (1718–1772) was a British politician and peer. He was made a Privy Councillor and Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms in 1762, holding both honours until death. Previously, he had served as Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire from 1740 until acceding to the peerage in 1743.

Birth and origins[]

George was born on 21 May 1718 at Windsor Castle. He was the son of George Henry Lee I, 2nd Earl of Lichfield and his wife Frances Hales. His father was the 2nd Earl of Lichfield and a great-grandson of King Charles II through his illegitimate daughter Charlotte Fitzroy by his mistress Barbara Villiers. George's mother was a daughter of Sir John Hales, 4th Baronet of Hackington,^[1] who had brought her up as a Catholic and was the 2nd Earl of Tenterden in the Jacobite peerage.^[2]

Early life[]

From birth he was styled Viscount Quarendon as heir apparent. In the family tradition, he was educated at St John's College, Oxford. On 14 February 1732 he was made an M.A. of Oxford. In 1740 and from 1741 to 1742, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the county of Oxford. On 15 February 1743, his father died and Viscount Quarendon became the 3rd Earl of Lichfield.^[10]

He continued his law studies at Oxford and earned his D.C.L. of Oxford on 25 August 1743.^[11] 23 years later, on 19 August of the year 1760, Lichfield received the great position of High Steward of the University of Oxford.

On 9 December 1760, he became Lord of the Bedchamber to King George III; and on 12 July 1762, Captain of the Band of Gentlemen Pensioners. He joined the Privy Council on 14 July 1762. He replaced George Huddesford as the Deputy Ranger of Hampton Court Park in July 1762. Finally, on 23 September 1762, he assumed the role of Chancellor of the University of Oxford.

From the Gentleman's Magazine, XXXIII., p. 349:

"The graceful dignity, the polite condescension, the ne quid nimis ('Let there be nothing in Excess') of the Chancellor were universally admired" — 1763.

He became a Vice-President of the Society of Arts; and a Deputy Lieutenant for Oxfordshire county on 17 October 1763.

Marriage[]

On 16 January 1745, in Bath, Lord Lichfield married Diana or Dinah, daughter of Sir Thomas Frankland; they had no children.^[12]

Death[]

Lord Lichfield died on 17 September 1772.^[13] The Earldom of Lichfield passed to his uncle Robert Lee.^[14]

End of the line[]

The 3rd and 4th earls, George Henry II and Robert Lee respectively, died without issue, therefore the estate eventually reverted to the 2nd Earl's eldest surviving daughter, and sister of the 3rd Earl, Lady Charlotte Lee. In 1744 Charlotte had married the 11th Viscount Dillon. Their son Charles Dillon, 12th Viscount Dillon inherited the estate of Ditchley but not the title. Ditchley remained the home of the Viscounts Dillon until 1934.

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

See also[]

• Earl of Lichfield
• Lee Baronets of Quarendon, Buckinghamshire, 1611–1776.
• Viscount Dillon

Notes, citations, and sources[]

Notes[]

Citations[]

Sources[]

• Burke, Bernard (1866). A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire (New ed.). London: Harrison. OCLC 11501348.
• Cokayne, George Edward (1893). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. 5 (1st ed.). London: George Bell and Sons. OCLC 1180836840. – L to M (for Lichfield)
• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology. Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, No. 2 (3rd ed.). London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society. ISBN 0-86193-106-8. (for timeline)
• Ruvigny, Melville Henry, Marquis de (1904). Jacobite Peerage Baronetage Knightage and Grants of Honour. Edinburgh: T C & E C Jack. OCLC 655825906.
• Thorne, Roland (2004). "Lee, George Henry, third earl of Lichfield (1718–1772)". In Matthew, Colin; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 35. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 69–71. ISBN 0-19-861383-0.