Brief guide to manuscripts collections| William L. Clements Library The University of Michigan John Lee Papers |
John Lee was born in Leeds, educated at Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn, and admitted to the bar in 1756. He was successful in his practice and by 1769 had come to the attention of the Rockingham party. Lee was active in the defense of Wilkes in 1769; he was an advocate for Massachusetts before the Privy Council in 1774 and gained wide recognition for his defense of Admiral Keppel in the court martial proceedings of 1779. Lee followed the Rockinghams on questions of parliamentary reform, working for a time in the Yorkshire petition movement. He was appointed solicitor general in the second Rockingham administration and in 1782 was also member of Parliament for Clitheroe. His antagonism toward the earl of Shelburne led to his resignation after the death of Rockingham. A strong supporter of the North-Fox Coalition, Lee attacked Shelburne's peace preliminaries as treachery. He returned to office with the Coalition, serving first as solicitor general then as attorney general. He was dismissed with the Coalition and did not return to active politics.
Political and family correspondence of John Lee, British politician, attorney general.
Although this collection has some scattered political letters, it is primarily correspondence dealing with family and social affairs. Approximately half of the letters are written by Lee's wife, Mary Hutchinson Lee (d. 1812).
Purchased, 1932
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