Henry Lee of Ditchley
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- For other people named Henry Lee, see Henry Lee (disambiguation)
Sir Henry Lee (1533-1611) of Ditchley was Master of the Ordnance under Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Lee became Queen Elizabeth I’s champion in 1570 and was appointed Master of the Royal Armouries in 1580, an office which he held until his death. As Queen's Champion, Lee devised the Accession Day Tilts held annually on 17 November, the most important Elizabethan court festival from the 1580s. He resigned as Queen's Champion in 1590 and was made a Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1597.
After the death of his wife Ann Paget in 1590, Lee openly lived with his long-time mistress, Anne Vavasour, formerly one of the Queen's Ladies in Waiting.
He was the uncle of Captain Thomas Lee, a troublesome soldier on whose behalf he allowed himself to be bound over and who was put to death in 1601 for an involvement in the treason of the 2nd Earl of Essex.
Family
He was the son of Sir Anthony Lee and Margaret Wyatt-sister of Sir Thomas Wyatt (poet).
His heir and Cousin, also Sir Henry Lee, became 1st Bart Quarendon
Trivia
- Anthony Lee was apparently descended from the Lee family of Lee Hall, Staffordshire, England; it is unknown if this family was related to the Lee Family of Coton Hall, Nordley Regis, Shropshire, England from whom the Lee family of Virginia was descended.
- A descendant of Henry Lee of Ditchley was Edward Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield-ancestor of Mary Custis Lee-wife of Robert Edward Lee.
- Allegedly his 1st cousin seven times over was Charles Lee (general) of the Continental Army.
External links
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